


Great Power

by EmrysTheMerlin



Series: The Heart of A Hero [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon 2012)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, F/M, Fem Peter Parker - Freeform, Gen, Orphan Peter Parker, Parksborn, Pepperoni, Piper Parker - Freeform, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Spideynova - Freeform, Superfamily, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony adopts Peter, fem!Peter Parker - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-16 16:30:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 43
Words: 58,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14814879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmrysTheMerlin/pseuds/EmrysTheMerlin
Summary: Piper Parker is unraveling the mystery surrounding her parents deaths. With the help of her team she may just find the answers she's looking for, but will she be ready to face the truth? Meanwhile her adoptive father Tony Stark is starting to realize that something isn't quite right with his daughter these days.





	1. Fatal Field Trips

**Author's Note:**

> Alright this is the sequel to Great Responsibility. If you haven't read that this wont make a whole lot of sense. This is also something of a transfer from Fanfiction. But it's not done. Once I get to the latest chapter I'll try to update them simultaneously. Let me know what you think.

Piper loved school, she really did. She was good at it too, so smart she should really have advanced several grades in a year, but she’d refused the offer when it was given. But field trips weren’t something she looked forward to. If she was honest she hated field trips, they never went well. Something bad invariably happened to her. Last one she’d been on she’d fallen out a fifty-story window and found out that her best friend was, at the time, being used as a host by a parasitic symbiote that had some kind of connection to her, along with a mile-long grudge for not letting it take over her mind and turn her into a roaring monster. The time before that she’d been bitten by a spider, gotten so sick she’d passed out in her level of Stark Tower and woken up to find that she was strong beyond belief and could stick to walls. Ok so that one had ended up working out in the end, but it didn’t mean the experience itself had been any fun at all. Having your DNA broken down and rewritten really, really hurt. 

But she hadn’t been able to find a way to weasel out of this field trip, so she’d resolved to stay at the back of the group and draw as little attention to herself as was humanly possible. But at least the subject matter was interesting. Principle Coulson was leading this trip, why no one really knew but Piper had the suspicion he was here to make sure nothing went wrong like it had last time, and she was perfectly ok with that. But that didn’t mean she trusted him. She followed the group as they followed Coulson through the museum’s large arched doorways. She had problems trusting anyone from SHEILD these days, the only exceptions were her team, her Auntie Tasha and Uncle Clint. She knew they hadn’t had anything to do with her parent’s deaths. But the rest of SHEILD… Well she just wasn’t sure who she could really trust anymore. 

That thought sent a pang through her heart as she glanced around and frowned to herself. It had been nearly two months since the Venom incident, when Harry had been fully taken over by the Symbiote and tried to kill her. Since the world had learned that Tony Stark had a child, though luckily no one had figured out yet that she was that child. The news still liked to talk about that though, and Harry hadn’t been back to school since. He’d finally made contact with someone from their class the other day, that someone being MJ. He’d told her that he was fine and that he would hopefully be coming back to school within the next few weeks. Hopefully. He’d made no mention of Piper or of the symbiote or if he remembered anything. It set Piper on edge just thinking about it, she just hoped he was really alright as the school group made their way into the Norse ‘Mythology’ exhibit. The quotation marks had been added to the name of the exhibit after Thor had landed on earth.

Piper couldn’t help but laugh to herself at this exhibit, she had never been to Asguard herself, but Thor loved to tell her stories and there were so many inaccuracies in the information around her that it made her smile, just a bit. She leaned against a pillar as Principle Coulson, who had to be laughing in his head at this, spoke about the Norse Rune Stone in the display case. He had been the first SHEILD agent to make contact with Thor, not that anyone but her and her team knew that of those gathered here. But there was a definite smile on his face as he spoke about the mighty Thor. 

Danny, Ava, Sam and Luke were towards the front of the class, right next to the case with the stone. The rest of the class dispersed to finish off their worksheets about this section of the museum and Piper noticed her team draw closer to the stone. Danny spoke as Piper stepped closer to them. He seemed to be translating the text on the stone, which really didn’t surprise Piper. Danny was the mythology and spiritual expert of the five of them. 

“Warrior be afraid of the coming winter?” Then the stone started glowing, a blizzard rising from the display case and Piper swore. She glanced around and tossed her bag to Eddie Brock who caught it with little surprise on his face. He’d found out that she was Spidergirl about two months ago, he’d grown used to the fact that trouble seemed to find her like metal filings found a magnet. Coulson called out to the students.

“Buddy system! No one gets left behind! Out now!” He nodded to the five teens in the small corner the stone resided in. Their backs were to the wall, the blizzard between them and the door. The case shattered as snow blasted around the room and the remaining students ran screaming from the room. Eddie nodded to Piper and pulled the doors shut behind him, Coulson helping him. Coulson had been beyond angry when he’d discovered that Eddie knew Piper’s secret but upon finding out that she hadn’t told him anything he was considering training the boy as a SHEILD recruit. The snow swirled and coalesced into a large figure that filled the room nearly to the ceiling. Piper flipped out of the way of the large club made of ice it was carrying which crashed into the floor leaving the tile shattered. She landed next to Danny. 

“You had to read the ancient stone, didn’t you?” Danny blushed slightly before falling into a fighting stance with the rest of them. Piper pulled off her shirt as Ava did the same revealing their respective costumes. She pulled her mask out of her pocket and pulled it on as Ava dove at the blue giant. She was trying to remember what Uncle Thor called these things, she’d heard so many stories about Asguard and the other realms that it all blended together after a while. She flipped out of the way of another swing of the club. Nova slipped his helmet out of his bag and took off blasting at the large blue man. Then it blasted ice at Luke and it clicked in Piper’s mind.

“How the hell did a Frost Giant get here!” The others glanced at her, confused but then they seemed to remember that she’d been living with the Avengers since she was eleven and would clearly have better knowledge about their respective villains than almost anyone else. She swung at the thing and kicked it hard in the chest sending it stumbling but it batted her out of the air before she could get out of the air. The others cried out as the frost giant squeezed her hard. She groaned and managed to flick a switch on the hidden belt she always wore under her costume. The webs on her suit began to heat up. 

“Hasn’t anyone ever told you I’m too hot to handle?” She quipped as the webs burned hot and the giant screamed and dropped her. It roared and struck out at her. She dove to the side as Nova blasted the thing backwards. Tiger landed on its back, claws digging into blue skin drawing blood. Iron Fist and Powerman swung their fists in unison finally knocking the thing off its feet. Its club shattered and it roared but before it could rise a bolt of lightning arched into the room through the domed ceiling. Thor materialized from the lightning and the team backed off as he brought his hammer down on the frost giants head. There was a mighty crack and the giant moved no more. Piper pulled off her mask a frown on her face. 

“You didn’t have to kill him! He was down!” Thor frowned at her slightly as she and the other teens began to change into their street clothes. 

“I am sorry this upsets you but Frost Giants are monsters that must be put down. It would have gotten back up and done far more damage had I not intervened.” Piper stepped up to him with a frown etched onto her face. 

“We had that handled.” Thor’s frown wavered slightly. 

“You and your compatriots were doing well young Lady Piper but you would have not prevailed against the Frost Giant. This foe is beyond any of you.” Piper rolled her eyes. This was why despite all the interesting things she’d learned from Thor he would never make favorite uncle in her book. The others were looking star struck and she could tell that Thor was loving that. He loved being one of the Earths greatest heroes, but the problem with Earths greatest heroes was they tended to forget that there were other people doing this just as well as they did, a fact she was happy to remind almost all of them of. She reminded Thor of this now as she stuffed her mask back in her pocket. He had the gall to laugh.

“You may yet be one of earths greatest champions but you are a long way away from that goal.” She stepped back as the door to the rest of the museum creaked open and Thor turned to the body of the giant. Principle Coulson and Eddie were the first people to stick their heads into the room but that wasn’t what had Piper’s attention right now. Her Spidey sense was going crazy, she whirled trying to find the source of the danger and spotted Thor reaching for the strange stone on the frost giant’s chest. 

“Thor! Don’t!” But it was too late. A green cloud of lightning and smoke exploded from the stone and Piper felt herself scream even as she heard cries of pain from her team and her uncle. Then everything went black. 

Eddie shouted Piper’s name as the room was filled with green smoke and lightning. Then in a flash of blue white light it cleared and MJ screamed. The room where Piper, Sam, Ava, Danny, Luke and Thor had been was now empty, six scorch marks all that was left of the teens and the Avenger.


	2. Missing

SHEILD was on the scene in less than five minutes, the rest of the Avengers not far behind them. Tony was panicking. He’d gotten a call from Fury that Thor had been fighting a frost giant when something had happened, that his daughter and several of her schoolmates had been in the room at the time. That his daughter was missing. He landed in the museum using the hole Thor must have created to get into the building, the man really had no regard for architecture. Piper’s schoolmates were being escorted out of the building and into the bus they must have ridden there. Mary Jane was sobbing in Eddie’s arms and Tony’s heart clenched. He stepped over to them and stepped out of the armor. 

“Tell me what happened.” It wasn’t a request, it almost sounded like he was begging as Captain America and the Black Widow ushered the remaining students back onto their bus. One of the guys in a letterman jacket seemed particularly interested in what was going on. But a glare from Natasha and he was scurrying onto the bus. MJ and Eddie told them what they knew, which wasn’t much. Nor was it very heartening. Tony had to restrain himself from marching onto that bus and tearing Coulson apart, at least verbally for not keeping a better eye on his child. But Piper didn’t want the world to know, he didn’t want the world to know she was his daughter. They would never leave her alone if they knew. So instead he stepped back into the armor as Cap escorted Eddie and MJ back to the bus. 

“Jarvis, scan the area, tell me there’s something please.” He knew the AI could hear how close to tears he was and complied quickly. 

‘Sir there appears to be a vast amount of energy from another world here.’ Tony frowned. 

“That would be from Thor right?” Tony zoomed in on one of the scorch marks a few feet away from the dead frost giant. 

‘No sir, the energy appears to be closer to that the is left behind when an Einstein-Rosen Bridge is opened.’ Hope leapt into his heart as Jarvis zoomed in closer and he spotted the tell tale runic markings in all six scorch marks. Tony whooped surprising everyone in the room. 

“They aren’t dead! They just teleported! They’re not dead!” Now he just had to figure out how to get to Asguard to save his daughter from whatever mess Thor had gotten her and her friends into. 

Piper groaned as cold pulled her back to reality. It hurt, reality usually did after lightning passed through her. But cold was not a symptom she recognized from that particular attack. She shot to her feet and slipped on a patch of ice. She landed hard on her back and groaned. This seemed to stir another pile of snow and Sam’s head poked out of the drift. He was shivering. He pulled out his helmet, which he had just put away at the museum and slipped it back on. He shuddered as the snow melted under his glow. Piper drew a bit closer to him as three other piles of snow revealed themselves to be her friends. They put their costumes back on and Piper activated her heating system again. They finally looked around, and found that none of them recognized their surroundings. A large gate stood in front of them, one of the doors, which looked like they had once been beautiful gold, was missing. The other was hanging off its giant hinges. She looked around, someone was missing. 

“THOR?” She called out, her voice snatched away by the frozen wind. There was a tremble in the snow in front of her and then a frog dressed in her uncles clothes leapt forth wielding Thor’s hammer. Piper stared. He glanced at her. 

“What?” The team blinked at him for a moment behind masks before Piper spoke. 

“Why are you a frog?” He looked down and a surprised ribbit tore itself from his throat. Piper held back a laugh. 

“This is impossible! There is but one man who could have conjured such magic. But he is dead!” The ground shook and Thor looked up and gasped. 

“Asguard!” He hopped off and Piper raced after him, the others following close behind. 

“I thought you said Asguard is a golden city, and you know warm.” Piper questioned as they raced through the snow after the frog that had been her uncle. The frog stopped cold staring ahead of him. Piper caught up and gasped. 

In front of them was what had clearly once been a busy market. This was clear because the people were still there, but they were all frozen in solid blocks of ice. Piper swore under her breath as she looked around. A woman and her child were frozen feet away from them looks of shock on their faces. Ava was the first to speak, the yellow eyes of her costume fixed on the same ice block Piper was looking at. 

“Are they dead?” Piper tapped her wrist and her SHEILD watch glowed. She flicked her finger across the screen to some of the things she’d added to the watch and scanned the ice block. 

“No. They’re alive, its almost like hibernation. But they are alive.” The others looked relieved as Piper stepped a bit closer to Nova shivering even with her heater on in her suit. He seemed to raise an eyebrow at her. 

“What? There’s a reason you don’t see spiders outside in winter. We don’t like cold, don’t do so well in it either.” She commented and Nova let out a short laugh before Thor the Frog took off towards the large gold palace. Piper swore and took off after him, the others close behind. They heard him cry out as he reached the golden gates of the palace of Asguard. Two large ice blocks stood there, one with three people in it another containing a woman with beautiful flowing black hair a sword in her hand. Piper recognized them from the stories Thor had told her about the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three. Thor was croaking out something that sounded like an angry growl. Piper used her watch to scan them. 

“They’re still alive.” Thor wasn’t to be distracted through. 

“The throne of Asguard has been usurped!” Piper stepped in front of the frog, scooping him off the ground as she did, her pouted and croaked at her. 

“Thor! You need to tell us what’s going on here! One minute we’re in the museum now we’re on a frozen Asguard and you’re a frog! Context is important!” The frog croaked and then nodded. 

“My brother lives and has usurped the throne of Asguard.” Piper frowned. 

“How is he alive? You said he was stabbed in the chest when the Dark Elves tried to take over.” The others were looking at them like they were speaking a different language. She waved them off, holding her Uncle the Frog in one hand. 

“Aye, he was. But he must have used his magic to survive. Now he has gotten what he wished for all these years. He has claimed the throne of Asguard, with the help of the Frost Giants.” Piper nodded slightly. 

“What do the Frost Giants have to do with this though?” Thor never got to answer her question as the ground shook and the ice split disgorging three very angry looking Frost Giants. The frog leapt from her hands and was instantly struck by a blast of ice from one of the giants. Piper dove to the side of another giant. She turned to her team so they could fight off the threat, maybe figure out a way to save Thor too but they were already frozen in a solid block of ice. Something struck her in her back and she felt her body shutting down. Her eyes remained open though as one of the giants picked up the small ice block that contained her uncle, another picked up her team and the last one picked her up. They were carried into the throne room as Piper tried to keep her head on straight, she had to figure out a way out of this but she couldn’t move. Her heater was slowly melting the ice but not nearly fast enough to do her any good. She had no idea how they were going to get out of this.


	3. Retreat

Harry Osborn felt like shit. He hadn’t slept in three days. Before that he’d managed two hours of sleep before the nightmares took over again. Eating was getting harder and harder, nothing wanted to stay down. He wasn’t sure why this was happening. He had been cleared by SHEILD, they said it was gone. They had said he was going to be fine, but he was just getting worse. The nightmares were unbearable. Every one of them featured Piper prominently. The first one had woken him up screaming. She had been standing in front of him, her back to him. He’d stepped up to her and grabbed her shoulder, she had spun like a puppet on a string and he’d seen the black web around her neck. Her eyes had been blank, the normally shining blue dull and lifeless. He’d jolted backwards straight into the black webbing. A hissing voice had laughed loudly just before he’d bolted upright screaming.

His father was no help at all. He was still insisting everything was fine. Harry had practically begged him to let him see a therapist, to talk to someone. Norman had said he was weak. That Osborn’s didn’t need help, that Osborn’s were strong. Harry buried his head in his hands and snatched his remote off the table, his father was at work, like always. He flicked on the TV. Maybe he could find a movie or something to keep him occupied. Unfortunately for him the news was on. 

“Tragedy struck a Midtown High field trip earlier today as a creature from another world, know as a Frost Giant, attacked the Smithsonian museum.” Harry froze. He glanced over at the calendar, today was the field trip Piper had been dreading, maybe she had managed to get out of it. The reporter continued.

“Though the creature was defeated by Thor shortly after he arrived on the scene he and five of the students who were at the museum at the time are now missing. All security camera’s in the vicinity were destroyed during the battle, but witnesses described a blast of green lightning. The Avengers were on the scene but declined comment. However, we managed to talk to one of the witnesses.” The screen changed to the outside of Midtown High and Harry saw Flash Thompson talking to one of the reporters. 

“It was crazy! There was this bright green lightning and this burst of like white light and then they were all gone.” The reporter took back his mike for a moment. 

“Can you tell us the names of your classmates who went missing today?” Flash nodded clearly loving the attention but looking a bit down. 

“Well yeah. It was Sam… I think his last name is Alex or something. Luke Cage, he’s cool we were trying to get him to go out for football. Danny something, I don’t know his last name, he’s really chill. Ava, don’t know her last name either but she’s a total nerd. And Piper Parker…” Flash was still talking but Harry couldn’t hear him anymore. He had fallen to his knees. He felt like screaming but no sound came out. Piper was gone? The words Missing Presumed Dead flashed up on screen as the first reporter came back onscreen, small images of Danny Rand, Luke Cage, Ava Ayala, Sam Alexander and Piper Parker flashing up on screen with a number to call if you had any information. Harry felt something inside him break as he stared at Piper’s school photo smiling at him from the screen. He almost thought he heard a hissing laugh as he felt himself black out. 

Piper was freezing. Still in the block of ice she’d been frozen in she’d been set in the throne room of Asguard, it was impressive she would admit that. This place looked more like something out of the stories Thor had told her. Well except for the man on the throne. Instead of the wise figure Thor always described Odin as this figure was familiar to Piper. Clad in black and green leather and his signature golden horned helmet Loki sat on the throne a spear in his hand, not the scepter he’d had during his attack on Manhattan, this one lacked the glowing stone. He smiled as the giants set the two blocks of ice containing the human heroes down next to each other. The one holding the frog Thor was placed at his feet. He laughed loudly. It wasn’t what Piper had expected. It was warm and almost infectious. She could see how someone like this could charm his enemies into working with or even for him, Silvertongue was a good name for him. When he spoke his voice wasn’t high and cold but smooth and silky. 

“Ah brother, it is so good to see you again.” He waved a hand and the ice around Thor’s hammer melted. Another wave of his hand and the hammer floated in a lazy circle in a cloud of poisonous looking green glowing smoke. Then and only then did Loki melt the ice around the Thor Frog and encase him in a bubble of green. 

“You’re looking a little green brother are you feeling well?” Loki laughed at his own joke. Piper had to admit it was kind of funny. She shivered. Her suits built in heater had managed to hollow out a small area inside her ice block before it had died. She hated the cold, it made her slower, she couldn’t stick to ice very well. She just wanted to curl up and sleep. She’d looked it up once, well hacked into the Oscorp project and copied the information they had about the spider that had bitten her. When exposed to cold it had gone into a state of hibernation, that it had only woken back up from when it had warmed back up. Nova’s natural heat seemed to have been enough to do something similar to the other’s ice block and Danny and Luke were examining the ice. 

“What nothing? Not even a sneer for my spell of confinement. I really expected more of you Brother.” The frog that had been Thor croaked at him. 

“I thought you dead brother! You died to stop the dark elves! Why have you returned to madness!” Loki bounced the ball containing the frog like a basket ball for a moment before tossing it at the block of ice containing Nova and the others. It bounced off.

“You are a fool brother. I faked my death. I did not believe that you would defeat the Dark Elves. But you did, and then left Asguard for your precious Earth. Leaving the throne ripe for the taking.” The Throg croaked again. 

“Our father!” Loki bounced him a little harder. 

“Your father. Is in the Odin sleep once again. It seems he needs to charge his powers more and more often these past few millennia. That left Asguard with only the most minimal of protections. It was easy enough to slip in with the Frost Giants and take what was always meant to be mine. To secure my victory. Thor humiliated, soon Odin will be dead, and I will stand victorious forever.” Thor the frog looked as betrayed as any frog Piper had ever seen including the one Flash had stepped on in third grade. Piper really couldn’t keep her mouth shut. 

“You know we might have something to say about that whole victorious thing.” She said managing to keep her shivering out of her voice. Loki laughed as he stood from his throne and stepped leisurely over to the block of ice Piper was frozen in.

“Ah yes the Earth heroes. I had almost forgotten. An unfortunate accident that you were transported here along with Thor. Unfortunate for you I mean. I believe I can use this to my advantage. Shall I kill you now and deliver your corpses to the leaders of Earth as a warning for what happens to those who resist or should I make your executions a more public affair?” He didn’t really seem to be asking Piper for her opinion but she didn’t care. Danny seemed to have found what he was looking for and was looking at her from behind Loki. She nodded slightly and he and Luke drove their fists into the ice that surrounded them. It shattered sending chunks of ice all over the throne room. One of them struck Loki in the back of his head. He growled and whirled only to be blasted back by Nova. He went flying across the room and Danny snatched up the globe that still held Thor the Frog. Nova blasted the ice around Piper which shattered. Piper flipped over the remaining wall of ice and landed at the head of the group. Loki pulled himself to his feet. 

“Now it is! Kill them all!” The frost giants around the room roared and lunged at the heroes. Piper thought fast. 

“Nova free the frog!” Nova pulled a face as Danny launched the bubble skyward so he could freely dodge the axe of one of the frost giants. Luke shouted in pain as he was blasted with ice. He shattered it with a single blow but Ava had to doge roll out of the way. Nova managed to dodge Loki’s blasts and blast the bubble Thor was trapped in at the same time. Piper dove out of the way of the giant heading her way before flipping up onto his spear and racing up it to sock him in the jaw which she managed to dislocate before he tossed her off. She was quite proud of that. But as she landed she saw that they really weren’t doing very well.

Nova had been trapped in a bubble just like the one Thor had been in, he was trying to keep it from shrinking in on him with no success. Luke had been flash frozen again an Danny wasn’t far behind. Ava looked out of breath as she dodged and dove for her life.

“Hey Frog Prince! I’m calling for a tactical retreat! Get us out of here!” Thor the frog glanced over at her like he wanted to argue but he spotted a spear barely miss her and sighed. 

“By Odin’s beard, this is humiliating!” He yelled before spinning his hammer around conjuring a bright white light. Loki screamed in anger as the six heroes vanished from the throne room of Asgaurd.


	4. Humility

Piper landed hard in yet another pile of snow and sneezed loudly. Four loud thumps told her that her team mates had landed around her and a softer thump told her that Thor had landed as well. She shuddered in the snow trying to keep her eyes open, god she hated the cold. A glowing hand reached out to her and she pulled herself up using Nova for support. He pulled her close as she shivered and seemed to glow a bit brighter and radiate more heat. Ava giggled but didn’t comment. The Thor frog however seemed to be much more upset about the situation.

“Why did we run! Thor is now coward! I did not believe you were either!” Nova frowned. 

“Hey! She’s no coward.” Piper put a hand on his shoulder, both to calm him and to try and get the feeling back in her fingers. 

“We weren’t going to win that fight. Sometimes the bravest thing to do is to stand down. We need to regroup, figure out an actual plan, Loki might be crazy but he’s also crazy smart. We’re not gonna beat him just running in blind.” Luke nodded. 

“Or half frozen.” Nova nodded.

“Or as a frog.” Piper nodded.

“Spark plugs right, we need to get you de-frogged.” Thor sat down in the snow looking dejected.

“You are correct. My arrogance may have doomed us all.” Nova tapped his chin. 

“Oh! I got it! Ava, kiss the frog!” Ava pulled a face under her mask.

“Why does it have to be me! You kiss the frog!” Nova shook his head.

“Nah, that’s not how it works, I’ve seen the movie!” Piper rolled her eyes and stepped away from Nova for a moment to scoop up her uncle before stepping back into the warm light that poured off her friend. 

“Hey. It’s not your fault. You did what you thought was right leaving Asguard. There was no way for you to know what could happen, you’re mighty that doesn’t mean you can see the future. Now we need to figure out what to do to fix this.” The frog that had been Thor croaked then nodded. 

“You are wise beyond your years Lady Piper.” Piper smiled and the group circled around Nova. 

“Alright, is there anyone who might have been overlooked, someone who could maybe help us?” Thor seemed to think for a moment then he nodded. 

“There is one that Loki may have overlooked. Come follow me!” He hopped off Piper’s hands and out into the trees of the area they had landed in. The group of teens followed. He lead them deep into the hills to a cave carved with runes. By the time they were in the cave they were all shivering. Nova wrapped an arm around Piper who seemed worst off. She was glad her mask hid her face because she couldn’t stop the blush that blossomed over her face. He was just helping her keep warm but she didn’t normally get this close to people. It was kind of nice, and Nova was like a personal heater so she let herself enjoy it as they walked further into the cave. Her nose wrinkled after a moment. 

“Why does it smell like burning metal in here?” Thor hopped in front of them, eyeing Nova’s hand where it rested on Piper’s hip but she’d stopped shivering so he let it pass. 

“This is the home of the Master Dwarf, the dwarf who forged Mjolnir itself. It seems fortune has smiled on us and Loki has neglected him in his conquest of Asguard.” A snort sounded behind them.

“Of course I was neglected Son Of Odin, no one remembers the Master Smith! You did not when you received the hammer I forged for you! The greatest weapon in all nine realms and did you ever come to thank me? No!” The dwarf went back to hammering away at the sword he was working on. Thor looked down at his webbed feet in disappointment, he had just turned to hop out of the cave, sure that the Master Dwarf would not help them, that his arrogance had doomed them all when Piper stepped in his way and knelt down to his level. 

“If you want help you need to be willing to admit your mistakes. You need to step off your high horse, show some humility.” The frog looked up at her and smiled before nodding and hopping back over to the dwarf. Nova stepped back over to her as Thor began his impassioned plea.

“When did you turn into an upstanding leader?” He joked. Piper snorted at him and punched him in the shoulder companionably as they turned back to Thor who was bowing to the dwarf who was smiling. 

“If a prince can bow to a dwarf, perhaps there is hope for this realm after all. And there is surely hope for the mortals if you are their champions.” The dwarf said smiling at Spidergirl.


	5. Tricked

Piper knew they couldn’t sneak in well at least not all of them. Besides Loki would be expecting a direct assault. So they were going to give him exactly what he was looking for. Piper adjusted the cuffs around her wrists and smiled as White Tiger loaded onto the ship her shiny new bow in her hands. Nova caught her hand as she stepped towards the ship.

“You sure about this?” Piper nodded.

“I’m sure.” Nova nodded her hand still in his. 

“Be careful Webs.” She smiled at him under her mask before pulling away and hopping onto the ship. She placed a hand on the rudder and smiled. 

“Everyone knows what they’re doing right?” They all nodded. She smiled and nodded to herself. 

“Alright, let’s do this.” Piper pressed down on the controls of the small skiff and it lifted into the air and soared away into the predawn light. Nova stared after them for a moment. Iron Fist laid a hand on his shoulder. 

“The Spider is far more intelligent than she lets people think. She will be fine.” Luke nodded. 

“And Ava’s tough as nails, they make a good team.” Nova nodded eyes still on the cloud line the skiff had disappeared into. Thor the frog hopped onto his shoulder. 

“Verily! My niece is a force to be reckoned with!” Danny nodded and caught Thor as he hopped off Nova’s shoulder. Luke made to follow Danny out of the clearing when he realized Nova wasn’t following them. He was still standing staring at the sky. Luke laughed to himself, the boy had it bad. He wasn’t sure Nova even knew how bad but they needed to move. So he grabbed Nova by the shoulder and steered him away from the clearing. He didn’t protest but he did glance over his shoulder a few times. 

Loki was ecstatic. In moments the frost giants would break into Odin’s sleeping chambers and he could take the throne. Nothing would stop him now. Then a rumbling shook the room and he glanced up only to be forced to dive to the side as a skiff burst into the room careening into his throne bowling over five of his frost giants. Two figures leapt from the skiff moments before it hit and burst into flames. They landed and each lunged at a frost giant that had been missed by the skiff. The flames behind them revealed them both to be female. Loki snarled.

“It seems my brother is more of a coward than I thought sending children to die in his stead. Kill them!” The frost giants shot blasts of ice at the both of them and Piper dodged in front of Ava hands held up in front of her. The cuffs she was wearing around her wrists, gold with intricately carved with runes, lit up with a bright white as the ice disintegrated on contact. The giants roared and advanced clubs in their hands. Ava popped up from behind Piper and Fired her bow striking the first giant between the eyes. Using Piper as a springboard she leapt into the air and fired at the second advancing giant. Loki snarled and leveled his hand at the girl in the red and blue costume. The blast of magic sent her flying into the giants still trying to gain entry to Odin’s sleep chamber. Both of them stumbled into the door which finally splintered. Loki let out a triumphant call and raced for the door as the giants pulled back leaving the stirring Spider the only thing that stood between him and the victory he craved. There was a shout and a halberd sunk into the floor in front of him before a familiar chunk of metal struck him in the chest. He swore loudly as the giants in the room roared and Thor’s voice echoed throughout the room.

“For Asgaurd!” Three figures rushed into the room, two of them carrying weapons. The obnoxious glowing one who’d freed Thor from Loki’s spell of confinement swooped down and grabbed the halberd and swinging it at one of the five remaining giants. The frog that had been Thor leapt from the green one’s shoulder and swung Mjolnir but Loki swatted him aside. The spider had disappeared so his path to Odin was clear. He raced forwards only for a web to spring up in the doorway.

Piper had to think fast. They were doing well against the giants, armed with the weapons that the master dwarf had given them but he hadn’t given her a weapon. Instead he’d snapped a set of cuffs around her wrists. 

“These will even the fight for you, take away the cold as an issue, but they will hurt neither Loki nor his giants. For you have no need of a real weapon you have every weapon you need, right here.” He’d tapped the side of her head with a finger. She smiled to herself as she glanced over at the unconscious Thor frog.

“You gotta stop breaking doors in your own palace, you’re the reason things cant be nice you know.” Loki practically growled. 

“You, then Odin, then Midguard.” Piper shrugged. 

“What good would that do you though? No one’s going to back you and you know it. You might have a claim to the throne, but it’s wobbly at best, and killing Odin would just mean that Thor would succeed him. Frog or not, Asguards people love him. He’s untouchable in their eyes.” There was a light of insanity in Loki’s eyes as he glanced over at Thor the frog. He took a step in his direction. 

“You are but a child but you have a point.” Piper laughed as Loki took another step towards her uncle, the frog. 

“So you’re gonna squash him as a frog, that’s just cheating. No one will say you really beat him like that. Anyone can kill a frog, no one can kill Thor.” Loki’s eye twitched for a moment as the others kept fighting behind them. The ground around him cracked slightly as he fully turned to face Thor. He waved a hand and summoned the stone that had been around the frost giant at the museum’s neck. 

“No one will contest my right to rule!” He screamed as in a blast of green light from the stone Thor was returned to his regular form. He pulled himself to his feet reaching out a hand as Loki lunged. Thor caught Mjolnir and swung it into his brother’s face sending him flying into the wall. He grunted and the spark of madness was replaced with pain and more than a little indignation.

“You tricked me! A mere mortal tricked the god of tricksters!” He was about to lunge but Thor caught him by the front of his armor. 

“She is no mere mortal! She is the Lady of Spiders!” Piper shrugged. 

“Close enough.” Loki laughed loudly as the crash of his final frost giant falling reverberated through the room. 

“Keep a close eye on your back from now on little spider.” With that final pronouncement Loki dissolved in Thor’s grip. The sun peeked over the horizon and the ice around Asguard began to melt. The others gathered around and peeked into Odin’s sleep chamber. He was still fast asleep.


	6. Something To Celebrate

Piper whooped with the others as the sun began to rise cracking the ice around Asguard. Thor pulled her and Nova into a hug and steered them out onto the balcony to watch the spell on Asguard break. Thor smiled as the ice around Lady Sif and the Warriors Three cracked and split. They shook themselves and glanced around weapons held at the ready, confused looks on their faces. They grinned wide and shouted with joy as they spotted Thor. There was riotous cheering from all over the city as Sif and the Warriors Three raced into the palace. Thor strode into the throne room with the teens in tow as the mightiest warriors of Asguard bowed to him. Sif spoke as they rose.

“Thor! It is a glorious day! You have defeated your brother yet again and saved all of Asguard.” Thor shook his head, his hands still on Nova’s and Spidey’s shoulders.

“Nay my friends. I would never have prevailed if it were not for these warriors of Midguard.” He introduced them each in turn each with as much gusto as the last. When he was finished the warriors of Asguard bowed to them. 

“We must celebrate!” Volstag bellowed. Before the teens could protest they were being swept off to prepair for an impromptu feast. Thor and Fandril took Luke, Danny and Sam while Lady Sif steered the girls off to her rooms. Piper shrugged, they had only been gone for a few hours a little party couldn’t hurt. 

Bruce sighed and poked Tony in the side. He’d fallen asleep with his face plastered to the screen in front of him. He jerked awake, flailing slightly. He glared at Bruce for a moment then groaned to himself realizing that he had fallen asleep. He glance up at the screen in front of him. It displayed a blank world map. He sighed. 

“No luck huh?” Tony shook his head. 

“Not yet.” Bruce nodded rubbing a hand through his hair. 

“Same at SHEILD.” Tony sighed and smacked his head against the screen in front of him. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. 

“There has to be a way to get her back.” Bruce nodded. It had been three days since Thor, Piper and four of her classmates had disappeared, seemingly traveling to Asguard, though whether under their own power or not was still being debated. There had been no sign of them since. And SHEILD had their hands full at the moment. The media was having a field day. Three days ago, shortly after the small group of teens had disappeared several villians had started showing up webbed to the sides of building with severe injuries. By all appearances Spidergirl had gone off the deep end. But Tony didn’t really care about that, he cared about his daughter, and he wasn’t the only one.

Harry Osborn was sponsoring a separate search for the missing teens, along with a small memorial that had gone up at Midtown High the day after the teens had disappeared. Tony had seen the Osborn Brat, as he was fond of calling him, briefly when the Avengers had gone to the high school to talk to the witnesses again yesterday. He’d looked like shit, almost as bad as Tony himself, with deep bags under his eyes and a haunted look in them. He almost felt bad for the kid, but he had bigger worries right now. He turned back to Bruce. 

“How’s SHEILD trying to find them?” Bruce leaned forwards. 

“They’ve got Jane Foster and Eric Selvig on retainer after what happened in Greenwich. They’re trying to locate any active portals between worlds but no luck so far, all the one’s Jane has used before closed off after the convergence ended. They’re also trying to do the DNA tracking scan you’re using, only they have all of the teens DNA.” Tony’s eyebrow quirked up.

“Why? I mean Piper I get, cause she’s my kid, they’d want to keep an eye on her if something happened which I actually appreciate. But SHEILD has DNA from the other kids who went missing?” Bruce sipped his coffee and shrugged.

“Tony whose DNA don’t they have?” Tony conceded the point with a grunt and turned back to his computer.

Harry laid a bouquet of red carnations in front of Piper’s picture. The memorial was small, just a picture of each missing teen in a small gold frame with candles and flowers in front of each. Danny, Ava, Luke and Sam’s pictures were all ripped straight from the yearbook but Harry had provided the picture of Piper. It was one of his favorites. MJ had taken it on one of their impromptu trips to Malibu from about two years ago. She was still wearing her glasses, but she was laughing in the photo, eyes almost closed. She had a book, some science journal, in her hand and seemed to not have a care in the world. So many things were different now. He shivered as a low hissing laugh sounded in his ear. He managed to stumble to the bathroom before he blacked out again. He wasn’t sure why he kept blacking out, but he knew it couldn’t be good. He wondered if he was going crazy as the blackness closed over him again. 

Piper giggled as Ava swirled her skirt, a silvery white material Piper wasn’t familiar with. The belt was a bright gold with creamy white accents. Her amulet, a white tiger with green gems for eyes and bright jade detailing, now hung around her neck on an emerald adorned necklace. She hadn’t let anyone else touch the amulet, no one had objected. It clearly had quite a bit of value to her, Piper suspected it was because it was the source of her powers but she brushed it aside for now. Ava looked spectacular in the dress as she fiddled with the ornate circlet that Lady Sif had braided into her long dark hair. She bounced her eyebrows at Piper. 

“Looking good Miss Leader.” Piper laughed. She looked down at herself. Her dress was blood red, Lady Sif had put her in what could only be described as a plate mail corset. It was silver, like the circlet in her own hair which unlike Ava’s fell free, the only gold accent she was wearing were the bands around her wrists. 

“Not looking half bad yourself Kitty Cat.” Ava stuck out her tongue and Lady Sif knocked at the door. 

“Are you ready?” Piper nodded at Ava who nodded back. They opened the door and smiled. 

“You both look like true Asguardian warriors.” The teens smiled as Sif showed them to the great hall.


	7. Making A Move

Sam had to admit they looked quite snazzy in their brand new Asguardian outfits. Luke’s was a yellowy gold with black and silver accents and black trousers. Danny’s was green with gold accents and darker green trousers. Sam’s own outfit was a deep royal blue with bright gold accents. The girls had yet to reappear, but Sam couldn’t wait to tease them. Neither girl really liked wearing actual dresses, Piper in particular had admitted that she found dresses and skirts a hassle not only to fight in, but wall crawling was made highly uncomfortable in a dress. He had no doubt that she could kick someone’s ass in five-inch stilettos, she’d been trained by the Black Widow after all, but it would be the first time he’d seen her in a dress. The doors to the great hall opened and the announcer spoke loudly over the din of the already ongoing feast.

“Presenting Lady Sif, Lady Ava, and Lady Piper.” Sam’s head shot up from the goblet in his hand. He spotted Ava first and had to admit she looked pretty spectacular. Her dress looked like it had been at least partially based on her costume, the flowing white material and green gems echoing the white and jade medallion at her neck. Lady Sif was dressed in something similar to what she’d been wearing when she’d been frozen in the block of ice just in a lighter shade of red with a longer skirt. Then he spotted Piper and his goblet nearly fell out of his hands, he had to scramble to catch it. Luke snorted at him and Danny nodded at the girls. Sam had stopped paying attention to the other boys though. Instead his eyes were glued to Piper. Her hair was falling loose as usual a silver circlet nestled in brown locks. Her eyes were still that shining blue, but she seemed to be wearing the Asguardian equivalent of makeup, something she never did, and it made her eyes seem so much more intense than they had before. The dress she wore was a floor length blood red affair with silver accents at the base of the skirt. She wore a silver plate mail corset that glittered in the light, offsetting the sleeves of the dress which were short but tasteful. It occurred to Sam then that he’d never seen her in short sleeves before, probably because she was almost always wearing her costume under her clothes and it was hard to roll up sleeves that tight. But seeing her now he realized she had far more muscle definition in her arms than he’d ever imagined. She was talking, using her hands to emphasize what she was saying like she always did. Luke was holding back laugher as Danny leaned over to Sam holding out a napkin. 

“You’re drooling.” Sam snatched the napkin from his friend as Danny joined Luke in his laughter. Piper and Ava were making their way over to them. Sam scrubbed at his mouth, not willing to risk embarrassing himself. Piper grinned and sat down next to him. 

“I gotta say Asguardian’s sure know how to party.” She said, she had to raise her voice to be heard. Sam nodded as Thor at the head of the table close by them banged his goblet on the table to call for silence and raised his drink high.

“To the Warriors of Midguard!” The whole room filled with cheers and the party began in earnest. Food was passed around and stories of the battle were told and retold again and again. 

About an hour later Sam noticed Piper slip away from the crowd out onto the balcony. He followed her missing Luke and Ava shooting him the thumbs up. Danny just shook his head and went back to speaking with Hogun about his home with the Vanir. 

Piper leaned on the railing looking up into the blue sky. Despite its brightness she could still make out stars beyond it, just slightly brighter points of light in blue. Her eyes wandered over the sky trying to find out familiar constellations. Someone stepped up to her and leaned on the railing next to her. 

“What are you doing web head?” Piper grinned slightly, glancing over at Sam. 

“Looking for home.” Sam raised an eyebrow. Piper laughed and leaned a bit more heavily on the railing. 

“Ever since I got my powers I’ve had fantastic vision. On clear nights on Earth I don’t need a telescope to see some stars so clearly. It was kind of a big deal for me cause I used to wear the worst inch thick glasses.” Sam chuckled. 

“I bet you looked adorable.” Piper laughed.

“I looked like a dork, ask anyone.” Sam shook his head slightly. 

“But dork is kinda your thing, and you wear it better than anyone else I’ve ever met.” Piper blushed red and looked back up. There was a slight frown on her face. 

“I don’t recognize any of these constellations.” Sam shaded his eyes and managed to make out the glimmer of what Piper could probably see so much better. He smiled. 

“I do.” Piper raised her eyebrows.

“I didn’t know you were into Space stuff.” Sam grinned wide. 

“Ever since I was little. My dad used to take me out in the dessert, sometimes we’d bring my little sister too. And we’d spend whole nights stargazing.” Piper grinned softly. 

“Which desert?” Sam smiled wide. 

“The Sonoran. He used to tell me stories about how he was a member of this intergalactic police force, the Nova Corps. Everyone said he was a crazy drunk, but they were wrong.” Sam fiddled with the buttons on his vest. Piper reached out to him. 

“What happened to him?” Sam’s frown deepened. 

“To this day I don’t know. He went missing about two years ago. I found his helmet after he went missing, when I tried it on I got these amazing powers and then passed out.” Piper chuckled. Sam glared at her but saw a glint of nostalgia in her eyes. 

“Things like that do tend to make one pass out, DNA altering isn’t generally something the human body can take awake.” Sam grinned slightly, she sounded like she spoke from experience. He nodded. 

“But when I woke up I was on a spaceship.” Piper’s eyebrows shot up.

“Really?” Sam nodded glad for once that he’d managed to surprise her. 

“Yep.” Piper laughed. 

“I don’t know if I would have believed anything was real after that if it were me.” Sam nodded. 

“It occurred to me, but they talked about my dad I had to see if there was anything to it.” Piper nodded. They were quiet for a moment. 

“Besides even if it wasn’t real I could never dream up anyone like you.” Piper laughed loudly.

“How so?” Sam blushed slightly, he hadn’t really meant to say that out loud but there was no going back now, he had to take the plunge. 

“Well you’re… unpredictable, brilliant, cunning, occasionally terrifying, kind, helpful, and selfless. Not to mention pretty.” Sam didn’t look up for a moment, he was terrified she was going to laugh at him. When she didn’t he looked up into her face. She was bright red nearly the same color as her costume. Her eyes were shining slightly. 

“You really think all that about me?” Sam nodded. 

“I do. I think you’re pretty amazing Spidey.” She grinned at him, her blush not fading. Slowly he reached out to where her hand lay on the railing and set his on hers. She turned her hand in his and squeezed gently. 

“I think you’re pretty spectacular yourself.” Sam leaned in slightly, Piper following suit moments later. But before they could get any closer a booming voice spoke from the doorway to the balcony. 

“I believe it is time we returned you to Miguard!” Thor was standing there Luke Ava and Danny behind him. Luke and Ava were looking at Thor like he’d just crushed all their dreams and Danny was shaking his head. Piper nodded. Keeping Sam’s hand in hers she led him off after the others.


	8. Coming Home

Their bags had been collected from where they’d left them in the snow near the gates what felt like days ago. Their costumes had been washed and Nova’s helmet polished. Their bags were slightly heavier than before, Thor having seen it fit to reward each of them with a piece of Asguard to remind them of their short time there. The others were handed back their weapons looking a bit star struck as they were lead out of the city on horseback to thunderous applause. Piper grinned as she spotted a mother holding her child so she could see the Warriors of Midguard. She waved at the little girl who laughed loudly and waved back. Soon enough they were on the rainbow bridge out of the city. Piper couldn’t help but stare at it. A bridge of pure cosmic energy was how Jane Foster had described it. Piper couldn’t help but agree. But all too soon they were dismounting their horses at the edge of Asguard itself. Piper dismounted with ease and laughed as she caught Sam who’d tried to flail his way off his horse and managed to get his foot caught in the stirrup. He looked up at her, his face bright red and shook his head. 

“Is there anything you cant do webs?” Piper set him back on his feet and seemed to think for a second. 

“Knit.” Sam laughed and tentatively reached out for her hand. She took his and the others followed them into the large golden dome. Thor was already inside speaking to a man dressed in gold armor. They glanced over at Sam, Thor looked like he was still deciding if he liked the kid or not but a pointed look from Piper put his smile back on his face. He walked over to the small group of teens and gestured them forwards. 

“Come it is time we returned to Midguard.” Piper’s hand tightened on Sam’s. He raised an eyebrow at her, she smiled sheepishly. 

“My dad’s gonna freak.” Sam laughed, they were all still in their Asguardian outfits. Danny had his sword strapped to his hip, Luke and Sam had their axe and halberd strapped to their backs. Ava’s bow rested crossways across her back. Piper was still wearing the cuffs around her wrists. They stepped over to the edge of the dome as Heimdall stepped behind them and placed his sword into the ground. The opening in the dome that lead out into empty space lit up in bright rainbow colors. Piper grinned and followed Thor into the light, dragging Sam with her. 

It had been six days. Six long days, since Thor had killed a frost giant at the Smithsonian. Six days since the thunderer had disappeared taking six innocent school kids with him. Tony Stark beat his head against his console. He hadn’t moved since his discussion with Bruce three days ago. He’d been combing every avenue he could think of to find his daughter. Nothing had worked, but he couldn’t give up. Giving up meant accepting that she was gone. Accepting that she was never coming back, that he’d lost one of the two things he couldn’t live without. Pepper had buried herself under her work to deal with everything she was feeling. He hadn’t slept in days. Jarvis kept reminding him that she wouldn’t want him to be like this. But he couldn’t stop now. He turned to the star map he’d been working on with Jane Foster. If they’d ended up on Asguard, as Jane once had, then there had to be a way to get there. Jarvis was machining one of the Quinn Jets to be space worthy as Tony stared blankly at his map. A bright light caught Tony’s eyes and he groaned then checked his watch. It was just past midnight, the sun shouldn’t be rising yet. Then every alarm in his lab went off. It wasn’t sunlight, but the light of the Bifrost! Tony leapt out of his chair and limped to the window. A few floors down on the balcony of the family level a burned ring of runes had appeared under a group of six people. Tony ignored his aches and ran, out of his lab and past a confused looking Bruce who was holding a blanket. 

Piper blinked her eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness around her. She frowned. It had been around midday on Asguard, for the first time it occurred to her that time on Thor’s world might not work the same way it did here on Earth. She had no doubt that they were back on Earth, she’d know that view anywhere. That was a view you could only get from the balcony outside Avengers Tower, New York sprawling out in front of her like a billion stars in the night. She grinned and was about to turn to Sam when the door to the family level burst open and Tony Stark came barreling out of the doors. He looked like shit, and she was being generous. He had bags under his eyes like she hadn’t seen since right after New York. He paused in the doorway looking at them and wobbled. 

Piper dropped Sam’s hand and raced over to her dad. He wrapped his arms around her and shook for a moment. She murmured assurances and he nodded. It took a bit to pull himself together but when he managed it he glared over Piper’s shoulder at Thor. He hugged his daughter for another moment before he let go and teetered his way over to Thor. The teens made room for him all staring as the engineer spoke. 

“If I didn’t think I’d break my hand I’d punch you in your perfect teeth.” The teens all glanced at each other, Piper looked the most confused. Her dad hadn’t been drinking, she’d have smelled the alcohol on him if he had been. But he kept talking. “Six days! I have been worried sick, we’ve all been worried sick, for six days! One hundred and forty four hours! Eight thousand six hundred and forty minutes! What is the point of communicators that work through space if you don’t use them!” Piper stared at her dad. 

“Dad what are you talking about, we’ve been gone maybe twelve hours.” Tony froze. He turned between Piper and the other teens all of whom nodded looking beyond confused. Then Piper’s face lit up with understanding. 

“There’s a time differential!” She bounced over to her dad. 

“There’s a time differential between Earth and Asguard. If we’re right and we’ve been on Asguard for twelve hours in their time and six days here then that means that every three or so hours on Asguard is a day on Earth.” Piper grabbed Luke’s arm and rolled up his sleeve to get at the watch he was still wearing. It was a digital watch and the numbers had sped up and were flashing by, the watch apparently catching up with time around them. Piper grabbed Tony’s arm and they grinned at each other. They made to race off but Captain America caught Tony by the back of his shirt and Piper by the back of her plate mail. 

“Not so fast you two. Tony is having a shower before you go all scientific on this, and you and your friends are going to medical to make sure everything’s alright.” Tony and Piper had twin pouts on their face as they looked up at Steve. But his frown brooked no arguments as he looked at them. Tony rolled his eyes and Piper stepped behind him slightly. Steve shook his head. 

“The whole city saw that light show. Pepper and Nat are dealing with the press. Bruce and Clint are heading off Fury. I’m making breakfast. You lot get cleaned up, leave the weapons in the armory, and we’ll talk about what happened.” Thor nodded. 

“Verily I believe the Captain is correct, we should break fast together and speak on the events that occurred.” Thor knew that Piper would web-slap him into next Thursday if her father ever found out that she was Spidey from him so he stopped himself just short of retelling the whole heroic tale. Instead he let the Captain lead him into the kitchen with Piper took the others to the medical level and Tony went off to take a shower. 

The news was in a frenzy. The missing teens from Midtown High were back, alive and adorned in Asguardian fashion. They had each given a statement to SHEILD, who were of course trying to keep a tight lid on everything but some brave photographer by the name of Eddie Brock had snuck pictures of all five teens decked out in full Asguardian gear, they looked like they’d just stepped out of a Dungeons and Dragons handbook. Norman Osborne chuckled down at the article on his tablet. He was glad that Piper was alive, she was a sweet girl and if he would ever make a move one of the best things that Harry could ever acquire in life. She would be an asset to the family if Harry ever got his head out of his ass. But he had more pressing concerns on his plate right now. He’d finally managed to acquire a sample of the webbing that had been left at the scenes of several brutal beatings. 

Jameson was claiming the beatings were Spidergirl’s doing but that didn’t sit right with him. Spidergirl was a lot of things but he couldn’t see her breaking both of Batrok’s legs. It didn’t fit her MO, and then there was the fact that every victim babbled about a black hulking figure. Maybe Venom wasn’t as gone as SHEILD had said. He glanced down at his phone and frowned, Harry still hadn’t called him back. He needed to find his son, and fast before he did anything that could tarnish his illustrious name.


	9. Supernanny

That night was an interesting one for Piper and her friends. They had been invited to stay over at Avengers tower, though the boys would be staying on Captain America’s level while Ava stayed in one of the spare rooms on Piper’s level. They all had breakfast together and told an altered version of events to Tony who hovered by Piper’s shoulder the whole time and fussed. Eddie and MJ had been invited into the tower, Harry would have been too, but no one could seem to get ahold of him. It worried Piper, but everyone else was so happy. She tried to ignore the feeling in her gut that something wasn’t right. They all had school that day so after a brief argument with Tony that yes Piper did have to go to school today even if both of them would rather work on figuring out how the time difference between Asguard and Earth worked, and if they could figure out where exactly it lay in the universe through that. 

Natasha decided that she was going to drive them to school, all of them, in the van Tony never used. She dropped them off at the back of the building and they were rushed into the building by one of the plain clothes SHEILD officers, that SHEILD had disguised as security officers when the team had begun to go to Midtown High. They were early, the halls eerily empty as they were rushed into Principle Coulson’s office. There were five chairs waiting in the room in front of the desk the chair of which was facing the window. The door was closed behind them and they each took a seat. Once they were seated the chair spun around to reveal Agent Coulson sitting there, hands steepled in front of him. Piper couldn’t read his expression, Ava was looking down at her feet, Sam’s feet were twitching, Luke was staring resolutely out the window to his left. Danny looked calm, but he always looked calm. Piper turned back to Coulson, who had laid his hands down on his desk and stood. He came out from behind his desk and leaned on the corner closest to Ava.

“Tell me what really happened.” He didn’t raise his voice, he didn’t look angry. None of the other teens looked like they wanted to speak so Piper began the story. She told him everything up until Sam had followed her out onto the balcony at the party. She hesitated but Ava who was looking more and more nervous by the minute, spoke. 

“Sam and Piper almost kissed!” Sam made a noise at the back of his throat that was somewhere between a protest and a conformation. Piper rolled her eyes. It kind of boggled her mind that Ava could face down bad guys like the Wizard but was terrified of Agent Coulson. She couldn’t see how he could be intimidating as he kept leaning on his desk for a moment. Then he spoke. 

“None of you are hurt. That’s good.” He stepped again so he was standing in front of his desk directly in front of the teens.

“You were all thrown into a situation that none of you were prepared for. Facing an enemy who has proven to be someone that even the Avengers struggle to take down.” There was a pause. Then the unthinkable happened. He smiled. “You all did well, much better than I would have expected anyone your age or with your level of training to do. I’ll be placing commendations in all of your files, as will Director Fury. It’s going to take some time for the press to calm down about this. SHEILD will be taking the brunt of the questions and answering them for you, in the name of keeping your superhero and your civilian identities separate. I can’t promise no paparazzi will be waiting in places we might not think of but we’re gonna do our best.” The others glanced at each other clearly confused but happy. 

“Now Luke, Danny, Ava head to class. I need to have words with Sam and Piper.” The three teens paused but did as they were ordered. Coulson walked back around his desk to sit back in his chair. 

“I need to warn the two of you to be careful, relationships make being a hero more complicated, you two know this better than most. Sometimes there are choices that have to be made to save the world instead of each other.” Sam flinched. “Sometimes the world will target one to get at the other.” It was Piper’s turn to flinch, just a little over a year ago Pepper had been taken by Aldrich Killian and almost killed. Jarvis hadn’t let Piper access the suits to go after them, to help so she’d gone out as Spidergirl for the first time, in a hoodie and leggings, a red ski mask and yellow goggles. It hadn’t been her best idea but she’d upgraded quickly. Coulson nodded. 

“Just be careful. Sam you head out, I need to talk to Piper.” Sam reached over and gently squeezed her hand and she smiled at him as he left. Then she turned back to Coulson her expression hardening. He sighed and pulled two things from his desk. One was a box, the other a folder. 

“I have noticed over the past few months that you’ve become more distant, more hostile towards SHEILD agents who aren’t your team. At first, I put it down to being protective but I decided to do some digging anyway, it is my job after all.” He set the folder in front of her. It had the SHEILD logo on it but was otherwise a plain, if overly full, manila folder. 

“How much did you know about what your parents did for a living?” Piper went pale and shook her head confused. Was Coulson offering her information freely? Coulson nodded apparently expecting this kind of reaction. 

“At the time of their deaths they were heading to a rendezvous point in Leipzig Germany. With them they had three witnesses, doctors Carl and Jamie Brock and a doctor Otto Octavius all of whom worked at Oscorp at the time. They had been sent in to investigate some suspicious activity, disturbing rumors of unchecked human experimentation, attempts to recreate the super soldier serum. They were supposed to meet up with a more experienced field Agent, Agent Maria Hill, when they arrived, but they never made it to Germany, as you well know.” He opened the file as Piper was still sitting stock still. 

“This is every scrap of information I could find on your parents, both from their assignment at Oscorp and before, everything from field reports to requisition form, every scrap of paperwork they ever made while at SHEILD.” He closed the folder and stood stepping over to her. He picked up the folder off the desk and handed it too her. She stared at him. Her breath was shaking. He laid a hand on hers. 

“I know this information can be shocking, but you deserve the truth, the whole truth and I wish I could give that to you, but this is all I can give. This and the knowledge that there is another piece of the puzzle out there somewhere, two really. Your parents had a SHEILD drive, an older model, it doesn’t have tracking in it, and they had a briefcase in their possession on the plane when they died. There’s record of them reporting to Agent Hill that they had it before they boarded the plane. But it was gone when SHEILD arrived on the scene, along with a few bodies, including that of Dr. Octavius. We’ve been keeping an ear to the ground for him for years but there’s never been so much as a whisper.” Piper hugged the folder to herself, her parents lives reduced to so much paper. She sniffled and Coulson pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it over to her. She scrubbed her eyes and blew her nose. He smiled slightly as she managed a strained smile. He crossed back behind his desk and pulled the box to the center of the wooden surface. Piper frowned. 

“What’s that?” Coulson sighed. 

“Something Doctor Conners thinks you can help with. I’m not sure if anyone’s told you yet but no one’s heard from Harry Osborne in three days.” Piper almost dropped the file in her arms. Coulson tapped the mat on his desk which lit up and projected a news cast picturing Batrok being loaded into an ambulance. The reporter was speaking. 

‘This is the latest in a series of brutal attacks seemingly perpetrated by the Spidergirl. Though when questioned most describe a hulking black figure, a far cry from the lovable red and blue spider many in New York are coming to call one of our greatest heroes.’ Coulson clicked off the news cast. 

“That’s been happening since you went missing. But Harry was still showing up at school, looking a bit worse for ware but not as bad as he was right after Venom took him over. We were able to keep an eye on him for a while, but two days ago he didn’t show up. Even we can’t find him.” Piper frowned and set down the folder. 

“Yeah spiders are pretty good at hiding.” Coulson nodded. 

“That’s what we were thinking, but we have a spider smarter than Venom and Harry Osborne combined.” He pushed the box across to her. “Figure it out.” Piper snagged the sealed box from the desk and stuffed it into her bag as the bell rang for the start of the school day. She could already tell it was going to be a long one.


	10. Blood Of My Blood

Sam was waiting for her outside Coulson’s office, they held hands on the way to class. Piper heard the whispers behind their backs but she didn’t care. The day went by fast and Piper and Ava picked a fight with each other so Piper could get an early detention, she needed her lab on the Helicarier. She pulled the box Coulson had given her out of her backpack as she reached her lab. She pulled her mask up above her mouth and used her teeth to pull off her glove. She laid her hand on the scanner and the door to her lab slid open. She set down the box as the door slid closed behind her. She popped it open and gently pulled out the box of samples that was carefully nestled inside. Four deep read blood samples rested inside, Piper couldn’t help but feel they were darker than they should have been. But she set the thought aside for the moment and set to work.

Hours later she was really beginning to wish she had a real sample of Venom to work with. Nothing was working, she was starting to get desperate. The DNA trackers SHEILD normally used to track people wasn’t working with Harry and no one could figure out why. But she had a theory, maybe Venom had altered his DNA somehow, she’d have to dig deep into his genetic code to figure out what was really going on. She had to run one of samples through the DNA sequencer a few times before she spotted it. She blinked at the results in front of her. That couldn’t be right. She grabbed another sample. She knew she was running short on time but she needed to know if this was right. She blinked as the same results popped up again. She ran all four samples through the sequencer, when all four came out with the same results she swore loudly. 

Sam popped his head into Piper’s lab and frowned. 

“Um…” She glanced up. Her mask was pulled up over her nose and mouth, but her mouth was full, a still capped syringe between her teeth. She looked back down at her arm where she was tying off a tourniquet. She tapped her arm, looking for a suitable vein and he noticed that her sleeve was rolled up to her shoulder. She uncapped the syringe and carefully pulled it out of her mouth before plunging it into her vein. Sam went pale. 

“Come in or close the door please Nova.” He stepped into the room the door slipping closed behind him, his eyes avoiding the syringe as Piper pulled up the plunger. The body of the syringe filled with red and she carefully pulled the needle out of her arm. She turned back to her table, ignoring the blood that seeped out of the small puncture wound on her arm. Sam sighed and grabbed a cotton pad out of one of the cabinets and gently took her arm. He was surprised she let him, but she did as she kept working. 

“What are you up to?” Piper shook her head. 

“Later. I need to see if this works.” The door to the lab slid open again revealing Dr. Conners holding a sealed containment unit in his hands. 

“Got what you asked for Spidergirl.” Piper nodded and took the containment unit. There was already a sample in the machine she’d rigged up on her table. It was about four feet across and held all four samples Dr. Conners had given her. 

“And these are all the Post Venom samples we have of Harry’s blood?” Dr. Conners nodded and Piper took the sample of her blood to the DNA sequencer. She slipped it in and muttered under her breath. 

“Come on, come on…” The machine beeped and displayed the results. She split the screen and pulled up another screen of results from the machine, though this one seemed to be from two different samples. She pulled the second of the sequences up and compared them to hers. She swore and popped open the containment unit. She quickly slipped Harry’s blood samples into the unit and resealed it before hooking up her machine. Sam was starting to get worried. 

“What’s wrong?” Piper glanced at him, her still visible mouth pulled down in a frown. 

“I’m right.” Sam laughed.

“Since when is that a bad thing?” Piper turned back to her machine and flicked it on sending waves of increasing electricity into the samples of Harry’s blood. It took a minute but soon they began to shake. Sam was about to pull Piper out of the way of what he was sure was about to be a pile of exploding glass but then he noticed that the samples were shaking in different directions. He stared as the glass around the samples shattered and the liquid inside which was growing darker by the minute began to try and claw its way out of the containment unit which luckily held.

“I didn’t want to be right.” Dr. Conners stared. 

“That shouldn’t be possible. He was clean we checked.” Piper nodded. 

“You checked once maybe twice. You didn’t think of the nocks and crannies Spiders hide in.” Sam raised an eyebrow under his helmet. 

“I mean I know Venom possessed you at one point but it didn’t use spidery powers with anyone but you… and Harry.” Piper shook her head.

“You don’t get it Sam. Venom… whatever made it, they had a piece of me, probably a blood sample.” She turned the display she’d been swearing at to the two other people in the room. The DNA sequences were an exact match. “That means that Venom is part of me.” That statement hung in the air for a long time as Sam and Dr. Conners stared at the screen in front of them.


	11. The Cure

Piper set back to work as Dr. Conners excused himself. Sam was still stunned as Piper dodged around him to one of the other computers feeding in new information. Then she turned to the still writhing sample of venom that had so recently been the blood of her friend. It was simple really, well she thought so. Venom had been hiding in the cracks in the DNA, the spaces no one really understood. Well not yet. It had snuck its way into Harry’s genes and it was going to be a bitch to untangle. Unless… She keyed in her access codes to her uncle Bruce’s files kept by SHEILD. She nodded to herself as she flipped through one of his papers, one of many theories on Mutates and a possible cure. A gene cleanser, designed to separate the human genome from anything foreign. It was a paper he and Reed had been working on, something that could maybe get Ben Grimm back to normal. They’d never been able to get it to work but maybe with a few tweaks, something to get the formula to directly target Venom, to target her cells inside the symbiote… It could work. She ducked under Sam’s arm as he turned to speak to her only to find her with another needle in her hand. He swore and grabbed her arm.

“Ok back up Webs. Venom is you but also Harry? I am very lost here.” Piper shook off his hand and drew another blood sample. Sam gulped loudly. He had never been a fan of blood, much less that of someone he cared about. She turned to the table and began to mix chemicals. 

“Venom and I have a nearly identical DNA structure, beyond a close family tie, the inert venom symbiote and my blood are nearly identical. It took me a few tries to find the differences. The active Venom symbiote… Well whoever did this, they’re an unqualified genius. I don’t know if even I would be able to recreate what they did, not that I’d want to but my point remains that there are maybe four people known to be alive at this point who might be able to do this. Who would have enough knowledge of biology, entomology, mutates and cross species genetics…” She trailed off. 

“Spidey?” He gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t respond for a minute.

“Piper? Are you ok?” Sam asked shaking her slightly. She jumped like she’d forgotten he was there. She nodded and turned back to her table, continuing to mix chemicals. 

“I’m hoping this separates Venom from Harry’s genome. If I do it right it should make it impossible for it to grab back ahold of him too. But I’m not sure. This has been attempted before but the subject was willing, and the problem they were fixing wasn’t hostile and out for blood.” Piper’s hands shook slightly and Sam caught her wrist as she nearly dropped the vial in her hand. He set it back where it had come from and pulled her close. He checked the door, which Dr. Conners had closed behind him. He gently pulled her mask off her face and frowned as she looked down at her feet. He pulled her into a hug and waited as she sniffled. She pulled back first and looked up at him, tears were streaking her face. 

“It’s all my fault Sam. This thing came from me, all that anger and hate inside Venom, I know where it came from, because it came from me.” She broke down again and he pulled her back into a hug. 

“Piper, anger, hate they don’t define someone. You’ve been through more than anyone our age that I know. You’ve lost family twice over, you’ve lived through the whole Iron Man, Whiplash, Mandarin thing.” She nodded into his shoulder. 

“The fact that you have the training and teacher and life experience that you do but you are the way you are amazes me. You’ve been taught by two of the most deadly assassins in the world, not to mention the bodies Captain America had to pile up to get to Hydra way back when. But you refuse to kill. You don’t harm if it isn’t necessary. That makes you better than Venom. Venom is what you could have been, what you choose not to be.” He got no further as her lips pressed to his. Every thought flew out of his head as he wound a hand into her hair and one around her waist. Her lips were chapped and she smelled a bit like salt from the tears that had so recently been running down her face. They pulled apart at a cheer from the doorway. Piper grabbed for her mask as Ava, Danny and Luke stepped into the room all in full costume. Ava was bouncing and Luke had a gigantic grin on his face as Piper pulled her mask back on, just enough to hide her deep red blush. Danny had a small smile on his face. 

“You two are too cute together. But Fury says we’ve got a hit on Venom. He looks like he’s heading to Oscorp.” Piper nodded her mouth and nose still visible, Sam really wanted to kiss her again. 

“Sounds like Harry, he and his dad have never gotten along. I need to finish this,” She gestured to the concoction on her table, “but I’ll join you as soon as I can. Just please don’t hurt him he’s one of my best friends.” The others nodded and Sam made to step back but Piper leaned forwards and pecked him on the small bit of cheek that was visible beyond his helmet. He grabbed her arm as she made to turn away and dipped her, he was rolling with the spur of the moment as he kissed her hard. He had a feeling this might be his last chance for a while. They were again interrupted by a noise at the door, this time that of someone clearing their throat. They both glanced up into the exasperated but almost fond eyes of Agent Phil Coulson. 

“We need to get moving team.” Sam nodded and helped Piper straighten back up and fix her mask. Piper stared after Sam for a moment before going back to her worktable with a glimmer of faith in her heart.


	12. Daddy Issues

Piper finished mixing her concoction and filled three syringes. She stepped over to the containment unit and slipped the first needle in. The small sample writhed more violently as she pushed down on the plunger of the syringe, spraying the cure all over the venom sample. There was an unearthly shriek as the black goo sizzled and burned away, leaving behind a patch of red blood. Piper ran the whole containment unit through the scanner, twice. Every trace of Venom was gone, it wasn’t hiding in the DNA, which was undamaged. The formula had cleansed it from Harry’s genes entirely. She still had some left in the first syringe. She snatched up her most recent blood sample and injected the gene cleanser through the cork in the vial. Her watch beeped and she turned away from the sample. 

“Nova?” It was Nova, he looked panicked even under the helmet. 

“Webs! We need you here now! We’re not gonna be able to hold him much longer.” Piper nodded. 

“Lure him into the lab levels, I’m assuming Mr. Osborne is evacuating the building.” Sam shook his head, firing a blast out of Piper’s view. 

“No! He’s insisting on staying.” Sam swore as something smacked him across the room and the call cut off. Piper grabbed the last two syringes of gene cleanser and raced from her lab heading for the hanger where her Spider-cycle was waiting. The door was already closing behind her when the vial of her blood on her worktable began to sizzle and shake. 

 

She really should have worked out a better plan on the way to Oscorp, but she didn’t. All she thought about was that she couldn’t let anyone in the building get hurt. Harry might be constantly frustrated with his father because Norman never showed him any affection but he’d never be able to forgive himself if he hurt him. She drove her bike through the New York skyline crashing through the lab level of Oscorp tower. She was just in time to yank Norman Osborn out of the way of Venom’s grasping claws. The hulking figure roared its long tongue lashing the air. She took a second to take in the scene around her. White Tiger and Powerman were down for the count, laid out across the room, like they’d been thrown. Iron Fist was covering them as they began to stir. Nova was stuck in so much webbing she could only see the top of his helmet and his vague glowing outline. But he was still fighting so she wouldn’t worry about him for the moment. 

“I hear you’re looking for me big guy.” The maw that split Venom’s face peeled back in a horrific parody of a smile, teeth so sharp and jagged it was a wonder he hadn’t bitten off his own tongue. He lumbered forwards. 

“You want me big guy, you’re gonna have to catch me.” Then without taking her eyes off Venom she gracefully dove back out the window leaving her bike behind. Venom roared and ignoring Norman Osborn who was looking slightly shocked and almost scared as Iron Fist ran to the broken window to see where Spidergirl was leading Venom, she was heading out away from the dead center of the city. She hadn’t taken her bike because she’d known that with him she’d be able to outrun Venom. He was big but it made him slower, much slower than her. Iron Fist helped Norman Osborn to his feet. 

“We’ll make sure Venom is taken care of.” Norman nodded as Iron Fist pulled the webbing off of Nova who immediately took off after Spidergirl. The other three followed quickly and Norman made his way back up to his office straightening his hair and tie as he went. He sat down behind his desk and tapped out the code to make a call. The call was answered by a man with greasy hair that was far too long and unkempt. His skin was gray, like he hadn’t seen the sun in quite some time. His eyes were hidden behind thick glasses. But it was the machinery wrapped around his chest that moved every time he breathed and the four mechanical tentacles coming up from behind him that were the most interesting features this man had. 

“Octavius. Venom is a failure.” If it was possible the man went even more pale. 

“Mr. Osborn… Venom was just a first attempt..” Norman Osborn nodded. 

“Yes. I’m aware. The first sample of Spidergirl’s DNA we manage to get our hands on and you squander it on an uncontrollable symbiote that has taken up residence in my only son.” Norman’s voice never raised in tone but his eyes flashed with a fire few saw. He took a deep breath. 

“Lucky for you the Spider seems to have the problem well in hand. But I will not tolerate any more failures from you Octavius. One more disaster like this and I blow your lab sky high. And no one will ever miss you or know you were there.” Norman cut off the call before he could see Octavius’s reaction. 

Dr. Otto Octavius was shaking with rage. He roared the two tentacles that served as his arms flipping a table in front of him. He missed being able to do that with his own hands, but he hadn’t been able to move his own limbs for years. Not since the plane crash. It had been a miracle that he’d survived. He didn’t remember much about the aftermath, but Mr. and Mrs. Parker had been sitting in the seats in front of him the Brock’s to their left. He had agreed to testify against Oscorp, they were on their way to Leipzig Germany to meet with a higher ranked officer of SHEILD, he’d never heard of them but if they could help stop the atrocities Norman Osborn was committing behind closed doors he was willing to help. But then there had been screaming and fire and darkness. When he woke up he couldn’t move but he’d seen the couple in front of him, at some point their chairs had disappeared. Mary Parker was staring at him, eyes blank and lifeless, blood pooling in the snow under her head. Richard was still alive bleeding badly pulling himself over to his wife calling her name. Then the men in black had appeared. One of them had kicked Richard Parker in the side forcing him onto his back as another two men pinned down his arms. The other man grabbed the scientist’s head and snapped his neck in one smooth move before letting him drop his head titled at an odd angle eyes wide open and staring at his wife. Another of the men had called to the others as he’d flipped Dr. Octavius over. The scientist still couldn’t move. He was terrified that he was about to die like his friend had. But then a needle had slipped under his skin and he’d blacked out to a view of the man who’d killed Richard Parker pulling a silver suitcase out of what was left of the overhead compartment. 

When he’d finally woken back up he’d been here, with these mechanical arms attached to what was left of his spinal cord, their mechanics directly connected to his brainstem. The mechanism wrapped around his chest served as a much more complex iron lung, his had been damaged in the plane crash. He could feel nothing below his neck, and he’d been too afraid to argue when Norman Osborn had shown up and told him he was being given one more chance. He’d never left the confines of his lab since the day he’d woken up. His own fear keeping him prisoner as much as the need to keep recharging his arms. Spidergirl was his key to freedom, if he could figure out how to catch her, how to give Norman Osborn the power to create more of her he could finally get free of the monster that had turned him into one. Or at least that’s what he told himself, he knew he as never really getting out of here. Even of he managed it some part of him would always be trapped by what he’d done over the past twelve years. The experiments he’d made possible that Norman had either taken credit for if they wound up succeeding or that were buried even deeper than him and the bodies of his test subjects if they failed. 

The bottom line was that Norman Osborn had to go. He just had to figure out how to do it. His demise had to be poetic, something his hubris created bringing him to his knees would do. But he needed Spidergirl first.


	13. Teenage Romance

Nova caught up to Piper as she was slammed against a wall, still in full costume, by an angry hissing spitting Venom. He blasted the arm of the creature and it roared dropping her. She coughed and leapt out of the way of a blast of webbing. 

“I had that Nova.” He rolled his eyes. Then he saw the syringe in her hand. He paused, had she really had time to finish the cure? There was only one way to find out. But before he could think about it anymore he was being shoved out of the air. 

Piper couldn’t believe Nova was spacing out now. This was the worst time for him to be off in his own world. But she shoved him out of the way none the less. She felt Venom’s web wrap around her waist shattering the second syringe and felt the gene cleanser soak into the leg of her costume as Venom pulled her close the others panicking as the elongated tongue ran over its pointed teeth. 

“Your friendsss have abandoned you.” The smile on Venom’s face was foul as it pulled her closer and whispered in her ear. “All thisss could have been avoided if you had jussst bonded with usss on that rooftop. Thisss iss your fault.” Piper winced slightly at the accusation but there was steel in her eyes, even though Venom couldn’t see them. 

“Yeah well this is my fault too.” She drove the needle deep into the symbiote and slapped the plunger down. For a moment she was sure she was going to lose her head to the teeth inches from her throat but then Venom began to writhe violently and without warning it exploded sending her flying into a nearby support post of the warehouse she’d lured Venom to. There was a sharp pain across the back of her head and she knew no more. 

Black sizzling goo rained evaporating as it fell through the air. Harry Osborn pulled himself into a sitting position, shaking from head to toe. His shirt was torn and his eyes were haunted as Iron Fist approached him and held out a hand. 

“Are you alright?” Harry hesitated but took the blondes hand. 

“Did I hurt anybody?” Iron Fist shook his head but White Tiger looked back over her shoulder to where Nova was trying to revive Spidergirl. 

Sam was desperately trying not to cry, he couldn’t lose her now, he’d just gotten up the courage to actually tell her he liked her, he hadn’t even had the chance to actually ask her out yet. He peeled her mask back slightly so it sat over her nose and mouth and so he could get a gloved hand under it to the back of her head. There was a lump but no blood. 

“Come on Spidey! Wake up, please!” He held a hand in front of her mouth, she was still breathing. Two fingers to the neck revealed that her pulse was steady and strong. He shook her slightly. 

“Come on, I can’t lose you now. You jut admitted you like me too!” A soft chuckle sounded from pink lips as her head tilted towards him slightly. 

“Awww, Nova, tears who knew you cared that mu…” She didn’t get to finish her sentence as he pulled her into a kiss. The other teen heroes laughed and Iron Fist patted Harry on the shoulder. 

“No you didn’t hurt anyone.” Nova helped Spidergirl to her feet she was favoring her leg. Harry held out a hand to her.

“Thank you. I can’t feel Venom anymore, and you have no idea how much of a relief that is. If you ever need anything, any of you, you know where I am.” Nova opened his mouth to speak and Spidergirl elbowed him in the side.

“Happy we could help. We should get you back to SHEILD though, make sure that Venom is gone for good this time.” Harry nodded. There was a jet waiting for them outside the warehouse. Piper let Harry be taken away by several agents before she began swearing and pulled a small knife from her hidden belt. Auntie Tasha had insisted that she have a real weapon on her at all times. She sliced off the fabric that the gene cleanser had soaked into. The skin underneath it was burned and sizzling slightly. She was quickly rushed to the chemical showers and then the med bay. The doctors in the med bay ended up removing three layers of burned skin to stop the spread of the chemical. 

Nova was sitting out on the deck of the Helicarrier and nearly jumped as someone flopped down next to him in a simple black SHEILD suit, very similar to the one Maria Hill had worn to recruit him when he’d come back to Earth. He laughed as he looked up into Spidey’s mask, neatly tucked in at the neck of the jumpsuit.

“How are you feeling Spidey?” She shrugged.

“Well we saved Harry. I got to triple check his most recent DNA scan. Venom’s gone, completely out of his system. I’m gonna call this one a win.” He smiled at her. 

“And you… you were hurt, how’s the leg?” She sighed. 

“Healing, nearly healed. But as it turns out the gene cleanser I created to beat Venom is toxic to anyone with spider DNA, like the ultimate pesticide.” Sam reached out and grabbed her hand.

“But there’s none of it left right?” Piper nodded. 

“Yep. It’s good to know that only someone as smart as me could kill me chemically though.” Sam laughed. 

“When did that become a regular sentence in my life?” Piper laughed loudly and leaned her head on his shoulder. 

“I don’t know but I think after all of this I need a me day.” Sam wrapped an arm around Piper as the Helicarier continued on its way around the darkening New York skyline.


	14. Me Time

Spidergirl wobbled. She hated fighting Whirlwind, she tucked his helmet under her arm and swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. She wobbled her way over to her bike. She coughed as the nausea hit her once more. She almost jumped as Nick Fury stepped up to her, her head was still spinning slightly, it messed with her spidey sense. 

“Textbook takedown of Whirlwind kid but you’re still doing way too much collateral damage.” Piper slowly glanced over her shoulder. The street behind her looked like it had just been torn apart by tornados, which to be fair is what had happened. No one had been hurt though. 

“To be fair it was already mostly like that when I got here.” Her voice was strained as she shuddered again. Fury nodded slightly. 

“Fair but some extra time at SHEILD would…” Piper shook her head and cut him off. 

“No. You swore that if I took down Whirlwind and the others got theirs we’d get a free weekend bar any world ending catastrophe.” Fury nodded and Piper handed him Whirlwinds helmet. He frowned as she took off her communicator. 

“Free day means no monitoring either. I know how thorough you are. As of right now and for the next twenty four hours I am a free spider.” Fury rolled his eyes but accepted the watch. Piper stumbled her way over to the spider-cycle which was once again showing off for the kids in the crowd. She grinned as it rolled up to her, she’d have to see about enhancing the AI, it was basic but had potential. She mounted the bike and smiled at the kids, even with the mask on they could always tell somehow. 

“Stay in school kids!” With that she took off heading back home. She had a nap planned first thing. Across town things were not going well for Dr. Otto Octavius. He’d been cataloguing Spidergirl’s negative reactions to vertigo caused by Whirlwind when Norman had called again. 

“I am out of patience Octavius. You waste my time, you squander my money and I am no closer to having an army of Spider enhanced to sell. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t blow your lab to kingdom come right now.” His finger hovered over the button. Octavius went nearly green, he needed more time for his revenge against Osborn. 

“I have a failsafe! I will bring her in myself!” Norman’s eyebrows shot up then he laughed, threw his head back and outright laughed. 

“You! A shut in scientist who couldn’t even wipe his mouth without those arms. Which you’re welcome for by the way. If none of the others we’ve sent after Spidergirl have succeeded there’s no way you would succeed. But I’ll humor you, you have twenty four hours.” The screen shut off. Octavius breathed a shaky breath. This hadn’t been the plan but he had been steadily upgrading his arms. He grinned to himself as he watched the claw on the end of his left tentacle arm pull back and release a sawblade. He would make this work to his advantage. 

Piper grinned down at the web shooter in her hand. She almost had it right. Her phone rang across the room and she slapped the shooter on her wrist and shot a web at her phone retracting the web with a flick of her wrist. She pulled her phone from the webbing and flexed her wrist again as she answered the call not bothering to look at the caller id. 

“Hello?” There was a small pause. 

“Hi Piper.” Piper grinned. It was Harry. 

“Hey Harry! It’s so good to hear from you! How are you feeling?” Harry smiled to himself. It was good to hear her voice. 

“I’m doing better. I’m staying at SHEILD for a few days, they want to make sure I’m completely Venom free.” Piper let Harry tell her everything he remembered which wasn’t much. He did babble for a few minutes about how Spidergirl had saved him. Piper blushed as he talked about how Spidergirl and Nova had been practically eating each other’s faces. She laughed. 

“Sounds like you had an adventure. I’m glad you’re doing better Harry.” Harry smiled a little. He’d gotten a call from MJ that morning, telling him that Piper and Sam had by all appearances started dating. He was jealous, he wouldn’t deny it. But she was happy, and that’s what mattered to him. Besides he was still her friend, and that was all he could ask for really. He was still upset that he’d missed his window, but apparently an impromptu trip to Asguard wasn’t something he could beat. 

“I hear you had quite the adventure too.” Piper laughed as she readjusted the webshooter on her wrist, she was seriously considering going back to the around the wrist model, there was just more of a capacity for web fluid that way. 

“I did, and I finally got to meet a bunch of the people Uncle T talks about constantly so that’s cool. We should get together so I can tell you about it in person.” Harry smiled. 

“Absolutely. My dad’s planning this big charity gala after I get out of SHEILD, come to that with me. They’re really boring when you aren’t there anyway.” Piper grinned and nodded as Natasha stuck her head into the lab. 

“Sounds great, listen I gotta go Auntie Tasha’s giving me a look. But I’ll call you later.” Harry laughed and they said their goodbyes. Piper hung up and turned to her Aunt turning Camo mode on her webshooter on. 

“Hey Auntie Tasha… You look like you just filled Uncle Clint’s bed with birdseed again.” The grin on the redheads face widened at the memory. 

“There’s a boy here to see you. He’s in the living room, with your dad. He brought flowers.” Piper went bright red as she scrambled past her Aunt who chuckled as the young girl raced down the hall and took the stairs instead of the elevator.


	15. Dating Disaster

Piper skidded into the living room and caught sight of Sam first. He and Tony were standing face to face in the middle of the living room. Sam had one hand behind his back and glanced over at the stairs as the door clicked closed. His eyes lit up with slight relief at the sight of Piper disheveled though she was from running full tilt down four flights of stairs, scaring the bejesus out of Clint who was in one of his nests on the stairs. Her hair was a mess and there was a streak of oil on her face. Tony glanced at her then cleared his throat bringing Sam’s attention back to him. He was looking intimidating in his deep blue three piece Armani suit and dark sunglasses. But Piper could see the eyes beyond them, he looked like he was having an internal conflict. Sam jumped slightly and the hand behind his back became clearly visible. There was a bouquet of bright multicolored daisies in it and Piper smiled. Tony rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses and stepped aside beconing Piper forwards. 

“You have a question to ask my daughter?” His tone was slightly cold, the one he usually reserved for supervillains, and he needed to run a background check on this kid just to be sure. He pulled out his phone, pretending to not be interested in the scene in front of him, while doing a quick scan of this kids background. Sam stammered slightly as Piper took up her fathers place in front of him. He blushed and held out the flowers. 

“Um… I knew you were free today… so I was… Well I was wondering if you’d like to go with me to Coney Island. I’ve never been and I think it would be fun to go with you. As like a date.” He was beet red by the end of his statement and he nodded glancing up from his shoes as he did. Piper was bright red, the bottom of her face buried in the flowers. Her eyes were sparkling with amusement though as she nodded. 

“Well you cant live in New York and never go to Coney Island. I’d like that Sam.” Sam’s smile nearly split his face and Tony cleared his throat again. Both teens jumped, both having forgotten he was still in the room. His initial research had showed him that the kid in front of him was clean, a few detentions under his belt but maybe there had been more to the Asguard trip than Tony had seen. 

“I have stipulations. Home before ten thirty. Call if you need pickup, call if you’re gonna be late, call if he tries anything funny.” A laugh behind Tony drew their attention to Steve in the door way to the kitchen. 

“And they say I’m strict. Tony let the girl enjoy her first date without scaring him away.” Tony huffed and Steve stepped forwards grinning at the greatful look on Piper’s face. He made a wiping motion at her cheek and she scrubbed at it coming away with oily fingers and blushing.

“I need to…” Steve nodded. 

“Go change, I’ll keep you dad of Sam’s case.” Sam’s eyes went wide as Piper grinned and bolted back up the stairs. 

“You remember my name Sir?” Steve laughed, Tony snorted. Steve elbowed him. 

“Of course I do. You and Piper got taken to Asguard with a few of your other friends.” Plus he’d read the files on the SHEILD kids as most of the organization knew them. He sat down on the couch and motioned for Sam to do the same even as Tony shook his head. Tony looked like he was about to ask something prodding when the elevator door pinged and opened. Piper stepped out. Her face was oil free, her hair much more under control. She’d switched out the oil stained button up for a red tank top with a familiar black widow hoddie tossed over the whole thing. A brown purse sat across her chest, the strap wrapping around her shoulder. She looked nice, still in her dark blue jeans and grey converse. He smiled at her. She grinned back. 

“Shall we?” He nodded. Tony stepped between them. 

“Do you have a ride?” Sam nodded. 

“Yes sir. I have a drivers license and a bike. Well a motorcycle. I mean a bike is a motorcycle…” Piper slapped a hand over his mouth looking seconds away from laughing. Tony narrowed his eyes. 

“Lets hope you don’t drive like you talk.” Piper frowned at her father. 

“Steve would you escort Ham out the back entrance please I need to have a word with my daughter.” Steve paused but complied gently guiding Sam into the elevator. 

“Dad! You did not have to be that rude to him! And seriously Ham? That wasn’t even clever.” Piper crossed her arms, hoping Sam would wait for her at the bottom of the tower instead of deciding that he was better off out of the madness that was her life. Tony sighed. 

“It was kinda funny. You’ve already been through physed right? Do they still go over the whole birds and the bees thing?” Piper went as red as the Iron Man armor.

“Dad! It’s my first date. I… That’s not gonna happen!” Tony breathed out slightly but kept pushing, he knew how boys could be. He had been one of the worst offenders out there when it came to womanizing, though he’d never done anything if they hadn’t explicitly said yes. He just wanted to make sure his daughter didn’t end up with someone just like him. 

“Does he know that?” Piper rolled her eyes. 

“Of course he knows that dad. Sam’s not the kind of guy to… I am not having this talk with you.” Tony resisted stooping to her level and rolling his eyes right back.

“I just wanna know what you and the boyfriend you seem to have acquired across the galaxy are planning tonight.” Piper stared him down.

“I’m gonna make him eat super greasy funnel cake and see if I can get him to hurl on the Cyclone.” Tony laughed, then he shook his head. 

“Alright get out of here kiddo. Be safe. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do… Or that I would do.” Piper let out a loud laugh as the door to the elevator slid closed behind her. Tony turned to the room. 

“Natasha?” The spy slipped out of the shadows. 

“How did you know I was there? You usually don’t unless you’re wearing the armor.” Tony smiled slightly. 

“This situation’s too humiliating and hilarious for you not to be here. If you haven’t already I was wondering if you’d teach Piper how to defend herself.” Natasha chuckled. 

“Do you really think that the minute she dubbed me Auntie Tasha I didn’t vow to teach her how to kill a man with her thighs. She’s good.” Tony breathed a sigh of relief. 

Their date was going well. Sam hadn’t hurled after the Cyclone, but Piper hadn’t really been expecting him to. He flew at Mach Two on a regular basis, the Cyclone was nothing. He was really bad at the games though. Piper laughed as he missed another ring. She tossed hers and it landed dead center on the target. Sam looked at her a bit admiringly. 

“How do you do that?” She collected her prize, a Captain America bear, and grinned leading him away from the booth. 

“Uncle Clint taught me the tricks behind the booths. He used to work at a circus. He knows all the stuff that goes on behind closed doors in places like this. I wouldn’t recommend asking though, the stories get a bit… raunchy.” Sam laughed. He was picturing Clint Barton, the distant figure he sometimes spotted at SHEILD, taking a younger Piper to every fair and amusement park they could get to and cleaning them out of all their prizes. He was about to ask if that had ever happened when the screaming started.


	16. Funhouse Fights

Piper whirled as a crash sounded from behind them. She shoved Sam out of the way of an awning that had come crashing their way. She rolled as Nova summersaulted to regain his feet. He swore internally. He had no way of getting to his helmet here. But he hadn’t wanted to look like a weirdo by carrying a backpack into Stark Tower, he had already been afraid that Tony Starks head of security Happy was gonna tackle him. There was no way Piper was wearing her suit under that tank top either. He froze as said tank top hit him in the face. He glanced up and his whole brain went numb. Piper was standing there in a white sports bra, her tank top discarded along with her black widow hoodie. She had unzipped a previously hidden pocket of her purse revealing her costume as she kicked off her shoes and then Sam spun round so he was facing the other way, looking out for people, just in case. But there was no one in this area. They were under the Cyclone, Piper’s roll must have taken them farther than he thought. Then he realized why everyone was screaming. 

There was a man, greasy and unpleasantly pale, supported by two long mechanical tentacles. Two other tentacles were bashing at booths and stands and the man was shouting.

“Come out little Spider! I know this is one of your favorite places to swing! Face me!” Sam risked a look over his shoulder. Piper’s jeans had been added to the bundle of clothes on the ground but she was now fully clothed again, this time in her costume, just finishing pulling on her mask. 

“Duty calls.” Sam frowned snagging her wrist as she made to web swing away. 

“You sure you wanna go out there alone, against the Psyco Spider?” Piper made a face under her mask. 

“Not digging the name. I’ll think of something better. But yeah I’ll be fine. You don’t have your helmet, get out of here.” Sam made to protest but she laid a gloved finger over his mouth. 

“I didn’t say don’t come back.” With that she swung off. He snagged her bundled clothes and purse and raced out of the park. 

Things were going great for about the minute before she saw this guys face. It was familiar. She’d been reading his books and papers for the past two months after all, as research for a thesis she was putting together on cross species splicing. 

“Dr. Octavius?” Admittedly she was not expecting his response to be grabbing her and tossing her in front of a thankfully empty cart on the nearby coaster. She flipped out of the way with ease and the scientist laughed loudly. 

“Spidergirl! Finally. Such a pleasure to witness a specimen like you in person. You are much more impressive up close.” Piper shivered slightly, out of the corner of her eye she spotted Sam, her clothes under one arm in the bag that had come with his Coney Island T shirt, ushering people out of the amusement park. She snagged one of the tentacles as it swung at her, she leapt into the air still gripping the tentacle twisting it around so it was behind the scientist. She gracefully slipped it under the front cart of another empty set of them and watched as he slipped and roared as he fell. Her mind was going a mile a minute. Dr. Otto Octavius was alive, and here attacking Spidergirl, why? Not only did the whole world believe he died in that plane crash but Spidey was so far after his time, assuming his time had ended with said plane crash. She moved as her spidey sense went crazy, she barely dodged a claw. 

“I never understood the appeal of hunting another living creature. But you have taught me. Thank you.” He laughed. “And he said I was a shut in! He laughed at me!” The tentacles were much faster than she’d been expecting. One of them snatched her left foot and brought her face to face with the nearly grey doctor. 

“First of all, who is he? Second of all didn’t you die, like twelve years ago!? Dr. Octavius listen to me, you need help.” She didn’t want to fight him. He was a key to a past full of secrets she needed answers to. But he didn’t seem to be in the mood to listen as he smashed her into the wooden struts of the coaster. Then he threw her across the park laughter on his lips. She didn’t have time to shoot a webline so she curled up instead as she crashed through a roof into a building. She blacked out for a moment and came too to the feeling of being picked up again, this time around the waist, the claw was cold and didn’t reach all the way around her. It bit into her sides as she struggled sluggishly. One of the first hits he’d managed had been to the head. Smart, it was slowing her down, she thought she could feel something warm on her face, shit that was blood. 

“Listen to me Dr. Octavius, you need help.” She could almost make out his smile through her blurred vision. Something was happening with his other arm tentacle. 

“Oh I wouldn’t worry about me right now Spidergirl.” Then she was in immense pain as electricity spiked through her. She felt herself whimper more than she heard it as she slipped into oblivion. 

Nova blasted through the air back towards the amusement park. It had taken him nearly ten minutes to get ahold of his helmet. He raced back onto the scene looking around desperately. There was no sign of the fight that should still have been raging. And worse no sign of Spidergirl. He raced through the park following the rather spartan destruction to the funhouse. Then he spotted the blood and called Fury.


	17. At His Fingertips

Norman Osborn checked his watch and sighed. Twenty four hours had passed and he was nothing if not a man of his word, so he keyed in the passcode to call Dr. Octavius. 

“What excuse will you bore me with today Octavius before I cut your purse strings and send you off for good.” He was looking down at his hands and was surprised when Octavius spoke with confidence in his voice. 

“I believe you owe me an apology.” Norman looked up sharply ready to snap at his soon to be ex employee but was stunned to see the image in front of him. Spidergirl was laid out strapped to a table in the lab, Dr. Octavius standing beside her, a look of smug satisfaction on his face.

“I… Is she?” Norman couldn’t finish his thought, so Octavius did it for him. 

“Just unconscious for now.” Norman lifted an eyebrow, the hero didn’t look to be in too great of a condition. There was a deep stain just above her the black that sat around the whites of her eyes which were closed almost completely. There were cuts around her slim waist. If Norman had to guess he’d say they came from the claws on the end of Octavius’s left tentacle, if the blood on said tentacle was any indicator. There was a bad burn on her costume, on the left side, close to where her heart would be. Norman’s eyebrows knit together. 

“What did you do?” Octavius was still smiling. It was almost unnerving to see the normally reserved scientist in this state. 

“I brought her in myself like I said I would.” There was a light groan from the table and Norman started. 

“She’s stirring. You have to find out what give her the powers and…” But he didn’t get to finish, Octavius cut him off. 

“I’ll find out what I like as I want to and let you know my findings when and if I feel like it.” Norman’s face hardened. He was about to begin berating the doctor when one of the metal tentacles reached out to the console and waved slightly as the doctor spoke again. “Octavius out.” The tentacle clicked a button and the screen went dark.

Doctor Otto Octavius hadn’t had many successes in his lifetime. He was brilliant, no one would deny that. Up until the end of college he’d had a sparkling career. He and his roommate at MIT, Curt Conners, had spent hours even days at a time coming up with ideas ways to save the world. From itself, from people, for science, for the generations to come. After college he had been offered a large contract from Oscorp, along with several other prestigious technical institutes and companies. He used to think that Oscorp was where he could make the biggest difference, even if it meant breaking contact with Dr. Conners. It hadn’t seemed like such an odd request at the time, Dr. Conners had been working for Tony Stark, Norman Osborn’s biggest competitor. It made sense not wanting top scientists communicating, leaking or looking for secrets. But then the real secrets had started. He was asked to give his opinion on human experimentation. 

He hadn’t been against it, in the right circumstances. He hadn’t meant that he would want to advance his work in cross species genetics into a human anytime soon. He was aware that he probably wouldn’t live to see his research come to fruition. But then Norman Osborn had come to him, personally, offering him the world for his research. Ever since world war two the name of the chemical weapons game was enhancement. Captain America was the only recorded success in that department though. But Norman Osborn had thought he was the key to success. It had been an ego booster for a while but then he’d seen the fruits of his labor. The masses of flesh and scales that had once been human. He’d been asked to find the problem with the formula they’d created. Then he’d met Richard and Mary Parker. And of course that had ended up with him paralyzed from the neck down, stuck in a lab that was more prison than workspace. 

He frowned as his left appendage, he refused to call them tentacles like Osborn did, detached the chord from the base of his neck. It was what he used to charge his appendages, most of what kept him in this lab. There were other places around town that he could use. He directed scientists from here in those labs sometimes. But up until today he hadn’t been outside, afraid of the looks and screams he was likely to attract. But now as he stared down at the prize he’d collected her revealed in the screams he’d collected. He finally had his success at his fingertips, he just had to reverse engineer it. And that meant that the rise and fall of the chest in front of him had to end. 

“Don’t worry, this won’t hurt.” He spoke to the stirring hero as his right arm tentacle’s claw folded back unleashing a sawblade. “For long.” 

 

Sam was sitting in SHEILD, panicking slightly. They’d called him back from the scene as soon as he’d made the call to Fury. What’s more they’d made him change back into his regular clothes and hand over Piper’s. Then they’d stuck him in a room in the med bay with no explanation. Coulson strode in a small briefcase in his hands a cast under his arm. 

“Put this on.” He said tossing the cast, which opened at the back, to Sam who followed orders but was about to ask what was going on. Coulson didn’t let him though. Instead he slapped a small piece of machinery to Sam’s neck. Sam flinched as he felt a weird rush over his skin, the familiar feel of holographic technology sliding into place. He was about to ask what was happening when Coulson stepped into the shadows, out of view of the large window and Tony Stark, still mostly in armor, rushed passed glancing into the room before continuing on. Sam turned to Coulson. 

“What the hell is going on!” Coulson sighed. 

“Piper agreed to join the team with one stipulation.” Sam made a noise of slight disbelief. 

“Only the one?” He liked Piper he really did but to put it nicely she was rather particular about her time, he was surprised that she’d agreed to go on a date with him in the first place. 

“Just the one. That her father never finds out that she’s Spidergirl.” Sam’s heart dropped. He’d known somewhere that Tony didn’t know Piper was Spidergirl but he’d thought that Tony on premises meant that they’d found her. But Coulson’s face told him that wasn’t the case.

“I mean at least she has her communicator.” Sam reasoned, SHEILD could track them from that. Coulson shook his head. 

“She didn’t. We’re gonna find her Sam. I promise.” Sam would have had to sit down hard if he hadn’t already been sitting.


	18. Coverups

Tony had seen the news, Coney Island had been attacked. SHEILD had called him, told him that his daughter was hurt but would likely be fine but he needed to see her himself. He’d flown directly to the Helicarier. He’d spotted her boyfriend, Sam in one of the medical rooms, a cast on his leg and cuts all over his face and neck. They looked minor enough. He kept moving. He finally found the room his daughter was in. She was in the same clothes she’d left the tower in, but her jeans were torn and her shirt was speckled with small debris. There was a gash across her head on the right side above her eyebrow. But she was breathing and surrounded by doctors. He was forced to wait and pace in the hallway. 

Nick Fury was well furious. It had to be Spidey didn’t it? Her heart got in the way, he was reviewing the footage of the fight at Coney Island, if you could call it that. She had barely fought back. But he could tell why, the man with the tentacles, he was Dr. Otto Octavius, the only living witness to what had happened to Richard and Mary Parker. It had clouded her judgement. Understandably so, but now the problem was where the supposedly dead scientist had carted Spidey off to. Tony Stark was sidetracked, watching technicians dressed as doctors pretend to care for the LMD of his daughter in the med bay. Now Fury just had to make sure he could find the real one before it was too late. 

Piper would admit that waking up to a greasy scientist wielding a buzz saw inches from her neck was one of the worst ways she could think of to start a day. The pounding in her head didn’t help but her reflexes were still lightning fast. She curled her hand inwards and shot a web line at the approaching claw. She flicked her wrist back, yanking the claw with it. The saw landed next to her on the table splitting the largest restraint in two giving her enough leeway to snap the rest of them off and leap to the celling out of the way of the smashing claw. The doctor growled. 

“Such a clever bug!” Piper leapt over the tentacles each of which were chasing her independently. She wove between them as she spoke. 

“It’s Arachnid, you should know that, you’re a doctor and a brilliant one at that. One who’s been missing for twelve years. What happened to you?” She had to dodge again as he tried to strike out at her. She wasn’t quite fast enough though and one of the claws snagged her by the wrist and slammed her up against a small glass window. A school of fish swam by outside. 

“Neat aquarium! Wait are we underwater.” The doctor growled as she wrenched herself free of him again. She shot a web line at him, sticking one of the tentacles that served as legs to the ground. 

“You do kind of have that whole creature of the deep aesthetic going for you. Oh! Thought of a better name! What do you think of Doctor Octopus, Doc Oc for short?” Another roar was her only response. Piper raised an eyebrow as he began to scream and shout to someone who clearly wasn’t here. 

“Here’s some news for you! I have a mission of my own! Get out of my head!” She tilted her head at him from where she was perched on the wall.

“Is that the ‘him’ you were talking about earlier? Invite him over! I know this quaint little SHEILD jail that would be happy to house both of you!” She leapt out of the way of another buzz saw flail, she was starting to get a bit sick of this. “It’s cozy, three square meals a day, and actual showers! Not that things like that seem to matter much to you.” She fired a quick shot at Octavius’s face, knocking him back. He used his tentacles to try and pull it off, and Piper noted to herself that she hadn’t seen his actual arms or legs move this whole time. She leapt to one of the consoles and bypassed the main system easily, hacking into a SHIELD satellite was slightly more difficult. She had to bypass a bunch of files that dumped open on the screen as she worked. Pictures of herself began appearing. She whistled. Every photo had some angle of Spidergirl’s mask staring back at her. 

“Damn, that’s creepy. I mean I knew I had fans, but stalkers are a bit more of an Avenger thing you know. Let me guess this is a ‘Just looking out for your interest’s’ kind of moment?” Doc Oc had finally managed to pull the web off his face. 

“My only interest is my own! Everything I am,” He smashed the console she’d been using, shit, she needed that, “everything I’ve become, requires that you perish!” She paused as she landed in front of him. 

“Creepy stalker says what?” He looked confused for a moment.

“What?” She giggled as she dove under him. 

“Ah that was too easy.” He roared and again caught her by her wrist. She’d officially had enough. She was bringing him in one way or another, she could do this the hard way if that’s what he wanted.

“Oh these look important!” She said and slapped a web over the vents in his chest. He collapsed the tentacles feebly working to free him. He was still breathing but it was much harder with the web over his chest. She’d let him fight with that for a minute as she tied three of his tentacles together. Her head was still pounding as she rushed over to an undamaged console and began to hack into SHEILD again. She didn’t hear the earpiece in Octavius’s ear speak in Norman Osborn’s voice. 

“You’ve failed me Octavius. And while I will regret losing the Spider I can’t have SHEILD tracking this back to me. You’re fired.” A boom shook the room as Piper finally broke through the last layer of defenses and keyed in her access codes. The screen popped up and she almost cried with relief as she spotted Nick Fury and Agent Coulson on screen looking beyond relieved. 

“Spidergirl! Where…” She cut them off as a new crack appeared in the lab wall and more water poured in. 

“Save the sugar! Track my location now! I am not a good swimmer and this place is flooding fast!” A few clicks of the keys and Nick’s good eye widened. 

“You’re a hundred feet under the East River!” Piper would never say it out loud but she was glad that SHEILD was so good at their jobs. Coulson’s eyes widened. 

“Kid duck!” She dropped into a perfect split, her head reeling from all the moving she’d been doing. The screen that had been in front of her shattered and she swore loudly and colorfully. She shot a line and pulled herself up the ceiling as the lab shook again and the cracks widened water pouring in. 

“Does imminent drowning mean nothing to you!” She shouted as he pulled himself up the her, four tentacles boxing her in and pushed uncomfortably close. She watched the water level rise, fear in her heart as she took a deep breath. There was no way SHEILD would get here in time. 

Otto Octavius was sure Norman Osborn had defeated him. He was going to drown, Spidergirl was not a good swimmer, he’d known that for months but he’d never thought that was what was gonna do him in. But instead of trying to escape herself as a large split opened in the ruined lab wall she snagged one of his arms, the left one and swung him up into the crack, before kicking him through it. His tentacle splintered, the claw of it remaining in the heroes hands as she sunk and he rose to the surface, drawing in a deep breath as his head broke the surface. He made it into one of the condemned apartment buildings just before SHEILD arrived on the scene. 

Tony had to dodge out of the way as a gurney was rushed passed him into the medical wing, one of the private rooms with no windows. He did spot the figure on it though. Spidergirl was laid out, one hand hanging limply off the gurney, the other wrapped in the wires of a complex looking claw. Her costume was soaked and burned and slashed. Tony hissed through his teeth as Coulson stepped after the gurney. He snagged the agents arm.

“She gonna be ok? Kid looked pretty banged up.” Coulson’s expression was blank.

“I hope so.” Tony returned to his spot by the window with a low whistle. 

“I do not envy you having to tell her parents that they probably have a dead superhero for a kid.” Coulson stared at him for a moment. 

“Me either.” Then he quickstepped down the hall.


	19. Suspicions

Piper woke slowly groaning and blinking at the overly bright light above her. They hurt her eyes so she tossed a hand over her eyes. Her lights were never this bright. Which meant she wasn’t home. She thought for a moment before she processed the last thing she remembered and was about to shoot to her feet when a familiar dark skinned hand landed on her shoulder. 

“You’re safe kid.” Piper relaxed slightly as she recognized the voice. It was Nick Fury. Piper took a deep breath coughing slightly and realizing she wasn’t wearing her mask. She squinted past the light above him and finally made out Fury’s face. He looked grim but there was a twinkle in his eye. Piper sat up slowly, she was still in the rest of her costume. 

“Ah I feel like I got the Hulk dropped on me.” She took a whiff of her costume and grimaced. “Smell like it too.” Fury shook his head slightly. He sat back in the only chair in the room. 

“What happened out there kid?” Piper sighed and explained what had happened, including her reasoning for not really fighting Octavius. 

“He’s probably the last person alive who actually saw my parents. Who maybe knows what really happened.” Piper ran both hands through her short hair. She sighed and looked up at Nick for the first time since she’d begun her explanation. “I really messed up, didn’t I?” Fury shook his head.

“Well whoever was behind Octavius didn’t want us finding anything, there was some pretty advanced tech wreckage too. The doctor himself got away, went back underground, no sign of him yet but we got footage of him coming out of the water.” Piper’s eyes dipped back down to her feet. Fury gently tilted her chin back up. 

“Believe it or not you did good work today, Doc Conners is very pleased.” Piper grinned as said scientist stepped up to her bedside holding Doc Oc’s claw. 

“You came back with a very advanced cybernetic device. You were clutching onto it like your life depended on it.” Piper smiled and took the claw from him. 

“For a minute there it felt like it did.” She rubbed her head with the hand not holding the claw. There were four stitches above her left eyebrow. The stitches would not slow her healing process, though they would break down faster, radioactive blood tended to do that. The door opened and Piper jumped at the sight of herself sitting on the gurney, in the clothes she’d abandoned with Sam under the Cyclone.

“Shit! Sam! Is he ok!?” Nick sighed. 

“Don’t worry your boy is fine.” Piper blushed as red as her costume.

“You know?” Nick laughed. 

“I know everything, superspy remember.” Piper went even redder. Dr. Conners frowned examining the LMD in front of him before glancing at Piper. 

“It looks like we made a slight miscalculation.” He said pointing at the LMD’s forehead. There was a cut there but it was on the wrong side of her forehead. Piper raised her eyebrows. 

“Why is there an LMD of me here now?” Conners tapped his tablet and the appearance melted away, revealing the white robot underneath the holographic tech. 

“Because your father’s outside.” Piper went pale, Fury handed her a bundle of clothes, her clothes. 

“Shower’s through here. As far as he knows you’re getting a few scans and cleaning up. Your clothes already got washed.” The door opened again and Piper tensed almost expecting it to be her dad. Instead Natasha stood in front of the now closed door.

“Two words Pauchok: Swimming lessons.” Piper laughed and pulled herself gingerly to her feet. 

“Alright I’m gonna go not drown in the shower.” Natasha followed her surrogate niece through the doors into the medical wings bathroom. 

Tony was pacing, still. Piper had woken up a few minutes ago and been taken to get some tests done and get cleaned up. Natasha had arrived and followed them but Tony hadn’t been let through. The male doctors weren’t allowed in either so that made him feel a bit better. But he was still pacing. 

Twenty minutes later he looked up and breathed out a sigh as Piper stepped out of the medical wing. Her hair was wet and fluffy, a slight curl that told him she’d just taken a shower. Her clothes were clean, and there were a few bandages here and there peeking from new tears in her jeans and the stiches on her forehead… The stitches were on the wrong side. He made no comment but examined her forehead closely as he pulled her into a hug. He held her close for a moment. 

“You ok kiddo?” Piper nodded into his shoulder. 

“I’m fine dad. How’s Sam?” Tony sighed and shook his head. 

“Fine lets go check on your boy.” Piper smiled as a voice from behind them spoke. 

“No need, I’m ok.” Sam stood there, leaning on a crutch, one leg in a cast, some scratches on his face. Piper rushed up to him and hugged him.

“Are you ok?” Sam nodded pulling her into a one armed hug.

“Yeah, they say I’ll be out of this thing in a few days, its just a precautionary thing.” Piper smiled as he pulled back slightly and looked at her head. 

“Minor concussion. I’ll be fine.” Sam brushed her hair back gently and rested his forehead on hers away from the stitches. There was a loud sigh from behind them and Piper burst out laughing as metal footsteps stepped up to them. Tony eyed the boy but nodded slightly.

“Fine. Sam come to dinner. I need to get to know you better. Make sure Coulson there doesn’t need you for anything else.” Piper hugged her dad as Coulson spoke low to Sam for a moment. 

“I thought you didn’t approve.” Tony glanced over at the short Latino boy. 

“He didn’t run. He stayed, and he was more worried about you than he was about himself, at least from what Coulson told me. And at least he’s not Osborn.” Piper snorted as the three of them headed off to the waiting quinjet. 

A few hours later as Piper walked Sam out Tony went over the footage from his helmet. 

“Freeze it there JARVIS.” The AI complied and Tony zoomed in the footage and frowned. He was right the wound on his daughter’s head had switched sides. Something wasn’t right, Fury wasn’t gonna tell him what it was though so no point asking. He’d just have to figure it out himself.


	20. A Gift A Nightmare

It had been nearly four days since the incident with Octavius. Piper and Sam had gone out for ice cream the day after, and finally had some time to themselves, though Piper was well aware of Natasha following them. Sam didn’t seem to notice though. It was nice, no supervillain interruptions and no phone calls from the team. He’d walked her home and kissed her by the door. She sighed as she stepped inside the elevator not even jumping as Natasha stepped out of the alley and into the small metal room. 

“He’s a sweet kid.” Piper nodded as Natasha spoke. Her smile was wide, her lips slightly chapped. Natasha smiled slightly. 

“You really like him huh?” Piper nodded and Natasha wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Natasha left the elevator before Piper did. She was fully intending on heading to bed but the elevator deposited her at Tony’s lab instead. She peeked out and smiled as she spotted her dad fiddling with something in front of a covered case. He grinned at her and checked his watch. 

“Home right on time and no disasters this time, the second date was a success I take it?” Piper grinned and nodded. 

“It was, we went out for ice cream and hit this little comic book store I love on fourteenth. That was a blast! You know he’s got a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars? But he’s never seen Star Trek.” Tony laughed. 

“Now I see why you like him so much. He’s almost as big a nerd as you.” Piper laughed and Tony grinned. 

“I’m guessing I still cant talk you into not going to this Osborn charity event.” Piper shook her head. 

“I mean even you’re gonna be there. Besides Harry and I haven’t hung out in forever. It wont look suspicious, Harry invited me as a plus one, even the press knows we’re friends.” Tony nodded. 

“I’m just saying a lot of weird shit has been happening around the Osborns lately. And there’s the whole thing where they were under investigation years ago.” Tony didn’t bring up her parents by name but she flinched anyway. She looked down at her feet and Tony placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Which is why I am sending you in there prepared.” He nodded to the covered case. Piper raised an eyebrow at him but stepped up to the case and pulled the white sheet off the case. She gasped. Inside the case was a dress, a hot rod red off the shoulder number with gold detailing. A thin gold belt with what looked like a sapphire sat high up on the dress, the long skirt flowing around the base of the mannequin sparkling in the light. The shoes were flat, the same red with gold soles and detailing. A pair of long gloves rested on the mannequins hands, gold bracelets with sapphires at the wrist. A similar necklace rested at the neck. Piper whistled. 

“Dad, this is amazing!” Tony smiled. 

“Oh it gets better.” He swiped his hand over the case and it opened. “Tap the gem.” It wasn’t until he said it that Piper noticed that the gem on the belt was triangular and glowing. She raised an eyebrow and smiled as metal plates began to spring forth. 

“Oh that is fantastic.” Tony smiled as Piper pressed the gem again and it shrunk back down into the belt. “How did you manage not to hurt the fabric. This feels like silk.” She said running a hand over the skirt. Tony grinned. 

“I machined the whole thing myself. It’s silk but polymerized with metal in it, so even if you cant get the suit out immediately it acts as a stylish comfortable Kevlar.” Piper grinned and hugged him. “The dress was designed by Iris Van Herpen. I called in a personal favor, she was super excited about the new fabric.” Piper nodded moving the fabric between her hands, watching it sparkle and shine with the metal that had been worked into the weave.

“It’s so light!” They spent a good twenty minutes talking about the dress and the new developments Tony was making with miniaturizing the iron man armor. He was thinking of working with nanobots soon but he wasn’t sure. Eventually Pepper showed up in the lab and demanded they both go to bed. Piper checked her watch and swore. Pepper glared and pointed at a small jar on the shelf near the door. The words ‘Swear Jar’ were printed on it in clear neat handwriting. Piper dug out a dollar from her wallet and stuffed it into the jar. She glanced at Tony who shook his head. 

“I put a hundred in there this morning. I’ve still got seventy three swears left.” Piper rolled her eyes. 

“Seventy two sir.” JARVIS cut in playing back Tony and Piper’s earlier conversation. Pepper rolled her eyes. 

“You really need to stop teaching her bad habits Tony.” Piper laughed as she headed for the elevator. 

“Pepper, I’m fifteen. I have already learned his bad habits.” Tony laughed. 

“Eh, your birthday’s coming up we still gotta talk about what you want for your sweet sixteen!” Piper grinned and stepped onto the elevator and headed up to her level.

 

Danny Rand was a very reasonable person. A person who knew that the old magic and new technology could exist together. He was attuned to the magical world around him. He had trained with Dr. Strange for several months back in Kun Lun, as the still relatively new Sorcerer Supreme he had access to the mystical places around the world. It was that training that warned him right before his fellow students began dropping like flies. Heads began to drop to desks. Sam was the first of the enhanced to fall, his head landing between his hands. Luke shook his head and Piper threw a piece of crumpled paper at him. The teacher didn’t notice, he was nodding off at his desk. Luke fell asleep next, the second to last of the people still awake. Piper blinked sluggishly as Luke’s head tilted back a deep snore coming from his chest. Danny had to fight to keep himself awake, his control of the mystic arts shielding him from the effects of what was clearly a spell. There was a deep yawn. 

“You ‘k Danny?” Piper slurred slightly as she tilted slightly in her chair. 

“Stay awake Spider. I won’t be able to fix this alone.” Another jaw cracking yawn pulled itself out of Piper as her eyes drooped. 

“ ‘ll wake up in a few minutes Pep.” Her head slipped to the table. Danny let out a slightly frustrated noise as he looked around. No one else in the room was awake. He hopped up onto his desk, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees. He took a deep breath and pushed through the barriers of the mind and into the dream world. It was harder than it should have been, he could feel his Chi energy draining as he began to search for someone not too deep under the spell. 

He found what he looked for, a door off the thin pathway he was following. It was glowing dimly and looked familiar. It looked like one of the metal lab doors in Stark Tower. He’d only been there once but it was something that was hard to forget. He stepped up to the door and pulled it open, the scene in front of him wasn’t what he was expecting. 

It was a lab in Stark Tower. Pieces of Iron Man armor littered the tables, a robot was humming away in the corner. A familiar figure was sitting near the door tinkering with something. Her hair was long, almost waist length, but pulled back into a messy ponytail. There were thick lensed plastic rimmed glasses sitting in front of familiar blue eyes. Two men were sitting by the door, a woman was leaning onto the table listening to the girl, who was at least two years younger than she was now. The three adults in the room were dressed in SHEILD gear. The woman leaned back. 

“That is absolutely brilliant!” One of the men near the door snorted. 

“Oh come on Ramirez, none of us understood everything she said. I caught maybe a third of it. She’s definitely Stark’s kid.” Piper laughed. He could feel her consciousness inside the younger version of his friend, but he still wasn’t all the way into her dream. Dream walking wasn’t normally this difficult. He had to get into the dream fully to wake her up. Before she could speak to the SHEILD agents the whole building shook, almost tossing Danny out of the dream entirely. The agents froze and every light in the room turned red. A siren began to blare and several familiar ships raced past the window, blowing several cars into the air. 

Danny recognized the ships, Chitauri. This was a memory of the battle of New York, nearly two years ago. The agents leapt to their feet drawing weapons. The men headed out into the next room, closing the door behind them. Ramirez turned to Piper.

“You know how to use a gun kid?” Piper shook her head, Danny had never seen her so scared. She looked much more vulnerable behind those thick glasses, they made her eyes seem wider. He had almost fully broken into the dream when gurgling screams sounded from the room the other agents had gone into. Rodriguez cocked her gun. 

“Stay here kiddo. Seal the door behind me.” She nodded to the blowtorch set on the other side of the room. Then she slipped out of the room. Danny managed to break into the dream just as Piper began to sob to the sound of the third agent dying. He had to wake her up and fast, and the only way to do that was to shock her. He raced forward and socked her in the stomach. He felt them both tumble back to the waking world.


	21. In Your Imagination

Piper jerked awake a breathy scream on her lips. She hated that dream, she still remembered the three SHEILD agents who had died protecting her during the Battle of New York. She hadn’t been able to do anything to help them, it was about four months before she’d gotten her powers. She was shaking slightly, it had been a while since she’d had that dream. She jumped as someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up into Danny’s face. He looked concerned. 

“Who were they Spider?” She stared at him for a moment not realizing what he meant. He seemed to catch on to her confusion. “The agents in your dream.”

“How did you know about that?” She asked swiping at her damp eyes. Danny pulled a small package of tissues out of his backpack and wordlessly handed them over. Piper managed a small smile as she pulled one out and blew her nose. He spoke as she scrubbed at her face.

“Dream walking, but it wasn’t natural. It took almost all of my Chi energy to wake us up before we wound up like them.” He gestured around the room and Piper looked up for the first time. Every person in the room was asleep. She blinked. 

“Ok a bit unusual for everyone to fall asleep… all at the same time.” She turned to Danny, standing. “You’re gonna say something foreboding now aren’t you?” 

“Dreams are windows to the soul. Someone has slammed them all shut.” Piper shivered and pulled out her phone tapping the key that connected her to JARVIS.

“You up J?” The metallic voice rang from her phone. 

“For you, always.” Piper smiled. 

“Play the loudest Klaxon sound you can over my phone on my signal please.” Piper set her phone down on the teachers desk and stuffed her fingers in her ears signaling that Danny should do the same. She gave JARVIS the signal and a loud piercing siren sounded from the phone on the desk. No one so much as twitched. 

“Cut it J.” She shouted and the AI shut off the siren. Piper frowned tilting Sam’s head up of the desk. She poked him hard. He snored. 

“Ok I’m intrigued.” She said laying his head back on the desk. “J give me the status on the Avengers please.” Danny raised an eyebrow at her as she began to pull off her button up shirt as the AI spoke over her phone again. 

“Dr. Banner is asleep in his lab. Mr. Barton is asleep in the firing range. Thor is off world. Miss Romanoff is asleep in her room. Mr. Rogers is asleep in his Brooklyn apartment. Your father is asleep at his work bench.” Piper frowned as she pulled off her tank top revealing the Spider suit under it. 

“Do me a favor and scan the rest of the city, and keep this whole inquiry on my logs, not dads.” She pulled off her jeans and rolled down the sleeves of her costume. She snatched up her bag and pulled her gloves and mask out of the hidden compartment. Her phone piped back up.

“According to the Stark Industries Satellites the entirety of New York has fallen asleep. The phenomena is spreading at an exponential rate.” Piper whistled as she pulled on her mask. 

“That… shouldn’t be possible.” She turned to Danny.

“Any ideas?” Danny nodded. 

“There is only one person living who could help us.” Piper nodded and they headed out to the back alley of the school. Piper and Danny hopped on her spider-cycle. 

“You never answered my question Spider. The SHEILD agents, who were they?” Piper sighed as she drove her bike through traffic, which was at a literal standstill. 

“Agent Rodriguez, Agent Grant, and Agent Travers. Nick Fury assigned them to me before the battle of New York, so my dad would agree to help find the tesseract. They died because of me. They weren’t the first though.” Danny was about to ask what she meant but she didn’t let him. 

“So everyone in New York is asleep and the sickness is spreading out to the rest of the world. How would that be possible. A chemical bomb? Toxin in the air?” Danny shook his head. 

“This isn’t science, Spider. This is the realm of the mystical reaching out to our world.” Piper snorted. Danny raised an eyebrow. 

“Why are we talking about magic, it’s kids stuff. I mean don’t get me wrong I used to love it when Uncle Ben would do the quarter behind the ear trick but it’s not real.” Danny sighed. 

“Magic is all around us.” Piper laughed.

“It penetrates and binds us?” Danny nodded and Piper rolled her eyes behind her mask as she steered her bike up the side of a building to avoid the pedestrians on the sidewalk. Danny had to hold on tight so he didn’t slip off the bike. 

“I was quoting Danny. What most people call magic is just science we don’t understand yet, like asguardian tech. Jane Foster and I have had a few conversations about it.” Danny shook his head. 

“Magic is more than that. Trust me. I have a friend, if anyone can help us he can. He’s the sorcerer supreme, the worlds most powerful wizard. Turn here.” She did, heading into Greenwich Village. Danny had her pull up to a decrepit looking warehouse. 

“The most powerful wizard in the world lives here? What did he cast a don’t pay the rent spell?” Danny stepped up to the house and drew a symbol Piper didn’t recognize in the dust. Piper stepped forwards and ran smack into a gargoyle that hadn’t been there a minute ago. She rubbed her nose and stepped back, eyes widening under her mask. Where there had been a metal sided warehouse with boarded up windows a moment before there was now a well built three story townhouse. Piper blinked slightly, Danny grinned at her. 

“Cloaking device. If we call that magic, then I have a magic time piece with a one eyed troll in it.” She tapped her wrist and her communicator, showing off an image of a sleeping Nick Fury. Danny rolled his eyes as the door opened. He gestured Piper inside. 

“The path to enlightenment awaits.” Piper entered the house and whistled lowly. It was a very beautiful house. Pedestals took up the spaces between roman columns that held up a balcony that ended in a sweeping staircase that seemed to lead into the rest of the house. 

“Your friend went full on sorcerer chic when he decorated, but I’m sorry Danny, putting a box on a pedestal doesn’t make it magical.” She said poking said box before Danny could warn her. The box sprang to life, large tentacles springing forth. Piper shrieked and she and Danny beat the appendages back into the box. Piper panted and shrieked again as a scared hand landed on her shoulder. This time she leapt to the ceiling, clinging there like the spider she was. A man stepped out of the shadows. He was tall with dark hair and pronounced cheekbones. He was wearing a set of Asian style blue robes a deep red cloak over the top of it a necklace in the shape of an eye around his neck. 

“Don’t touch anything else, we already have one crisis, we don’t need another one.” Piper leapt down from the ceiling brushing off her costume. The intense blue green eyes looked the two teens up and down. 

“Iron Fist. I’m impressed you’re awake let alone her.” Piper frowned as Iron Fist bowed slightly. 

“Your training saved me Dr. Strange I found Spidergirl just before she could fall too deeply under the spell.” Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow and made a series of complex motions with his hands. A shower of sparks in shapes of runes Piper still didn’t recognize passed over her leaving behind a pulsing glow. The doctor nodded. 

“She’s uniquely connected to this reality. You’re lucky to have this spider sense.” Piper stared at him. 

“Ah so a telepath? What number am I thinking of?” Dr. Strange’s eyes narrowed slightly. 

“First off I’m not a telepath I’m a doctor. Secondly you’re not thinking of a number you’re thinking of flapjacks.” Piper stared after him as he began to walk up the stairs. 

“There are more things than are dreamt of in your reality.” Danny said and began to follow Dr. Strange up the stairs. Piper blinked after them for a moment before following them up the stairs and deeper into the sanctum.


	22. Into The Dream

Spidergirl followed Iron Fist deeper into the creepy house, up the stairs after the sorcerer supreme. She was frowning to herself. She couldn’t help but think she’d seen the man before. It hit her as he led them into a sitting room off the room full of junk on tables and in glass cases, she maintained that putting it on display didn’t mean it was magical. 

“Wait Dr. Strange, Stephen Strange?” He turned a slightly surprised look on his face. “Acclaimed neurosurgeon, Dr. Stephen Strange.” The magician spoke still looking at Spidey. 

“I like her Danny.” Danny shook his head. 

“She is steeped in science and logic, mind and soul.” Strange’s eyes flashed slightly and he nodded. 

“Doesn’t mean she wouldn’t make a fantastic magician, with a lot of training.” Piper frowned behind her mask. 

“Yeah, I’m not into pulling rabbits out of hats, or being talked about like I’m not here.” Iron Fist apologized as someone cleared their throat in a doorway Piper hadn’t noticed. A man, who looked to be of Asian descent, was standing there looking grim, holding a bowl full of silver liquid. 

“Stephen, Daniel.” He regarded Spidergirl for a moment. Then he spoke. “The sanctum is hardly the place for children, or masks Miss Stark.” Piper blanched under the mask. Once she realized he was in her head she could feel him. She felt anger surge under the surface and blinked as the man stumbled slightly. Stephen stepped forwards and steadied Wong, concern on his face. As his bare scared hands came into contact with Wong’s skin he saw a flash of what he’d seen. A darkness deep as pitch with teeth like needles and eyes like the emptiest void. A moments inspection told him that it wasn’t an entity inside the costumed hero before him, but rather a representation her mind had adopted for all her darkest impulses. Fear, anger, hatred, insecurity, every negative emotion she’d ever had, stuffed away into a dark slimy corner given just enough life in her mind to keep her from acting on any of them, and to keep telepaths and others who could peek inside the mind out. He nodded to Wong and took the bowl from his friend who was about to walk away but a web in the door stopped him from leaving.

“No one can know, about my dad.” Wong nodded still slightly shaken at the feelings running through his mind. Perhaps there was a place in the sanctum for the girl after all. He bowed out, he was staying here to guard the sanctum from magical attack. Dr. Strange placed the bowl on an ornate stand and waved a hand over it. The liquid rose as Piper stepped forwards. She was about to poke it when a face, pointed and smiling with teeth like a shark and eyes straight out of a horror flick appeared. She squeaked in surprise. Dr. Strange nearly smiled then it fell again. 

“This is the demon Nightmare, the self proclaimed King of Dreams. Don’t touch that.” Spiergirl pulled her hand back and Dr. Strange frowned. “I know your father, very curious no sense of self preservation.” Piper would have stuck her tongue out at him if she hadn’t been in her mask. 

“I’m adopted.” 

“And generally a curious person.” She turned to Iron Fist hands on hips. He shrugged. “Truth may be hard to swallow but it is what it is Spider.” She rolled her eyes and sighed before turning back to Dr. Strange.

“Ok you were bullshitting about demons.” He raised an eyebrow at her then at Iron Fist. 

“Really Danny this is the best you could do?” Danny shrugged. 

“A dull blade makes an excellent hammer.” Piper scoffed at them.

“I heard excellent and dull, am I insulted or not.” She said flopping down into one of the chairs in the room, her words dripping with sarcasm. 

“Are you sure Stark isn’t your biological father?” She nodded and Dr. Strange shook his head before continuing. “Nightmare has been trying to escape the dream dimension for millennia. He’s finally found a way through.” Spidey couldn’t hold back a scoff. 

“Dreams aren’t another dimension, they’re a window to the subconscious mind. Psychology not magic.” Dr. Strange’s eyes narrowed. 

“To our limited human perception that is how it appears, but the dream dimension is real. Nightmare escaped it for a short time, but before the binding was renewed he managed to unleash a powerful enchantment on the world. His spell is spreading fast, it will put everyone on earth into an endless sleep. Those poor souls will experience their worst nightmares, feeding him for all eternity.” Piper shook her head. 

 

“I gotta say Doc, my non sense is tingling. This all sounds beyond crazy.” Iron Fist shook his head and Spidey felt a sharp slap to her ear. She whirled to find the corner of Dr. Strange’s cape waggling at her almost reproachfully. She stared for a moment before Dr. Strange spoke again. 

“Fate chose you for a reason Spidergirl. If we are to succeed, to save humanity, you most of all must believe.” She was about to make a snarky comment about fate when he raised a finger. “Close your mouth and open your mind.” Piper nodded and drew two fingers across where her mouth lay beyond her mask, mimicking a zipper sound. Dr. Strange rolled his eyes but nodded and stepped back. His cloak billowed without a breeze and he made another set of complex hand gestures, golden sparkling lines following his movements. Soon the pattern spread over the floor which began to glow. 

“Prepare yourselves, we are going to enter the realm of dream and stop Nightmare. If we fail humanity falls.” Piper squeaked as the floor fell away into bright colorful lights.


	23. Different Paths

Spidergirl squawked as she landed on her butt on a completely different floor. She blinked behind the lenses of her mask for a moment to try and get a grip on where she was but she honestly had no idea what to make of their new surroundings. They were on a pathway, it looked like polished white marble, it was just wide enough for all three of them to stand side by side with a few inches left over on either side. Along the winding path were doors as far as Spidey could see, they were all different shapes, sizes and styles. Some were metal, some were plastic, some were porch doors, some were cellar doors. 

“What?! How…” Spidey stuttered and Iron Fist shook his head, clearly amused as he followed Dr. Strange down the path. The magician spoke as he hovered a few feet above the path. Piper had spotted a door, it was a plain white front door, like you’d find on nearly any house in America. But on it was carved a snarling tiger. She frowned and tried the handle, the door swung open with little resistance. 

“Spidergirl! Stay on the path.” She didn’t look back. 

“Door’s on the path right?” She asked as she stuck her head in. Then she spotted a figure crouched in a corner. She was maybe a year younger than she was now but was easily recognizable.

“Ava?” She didn’t seem to hear Piper as she pulled herself further into the shadow of a large bookshelf that appeared to have toppled over. The room around her was in shambles, claw marks littered the furniture and a spear was sticking out of one of the walls across from a shattered window. A voice echoed around the room, harsh and deep with an accent Piper couldn’t quite place. 

“Come out little tiger! Die with honor like those before you!” Piper stepped into the room and tried to grab Ava by her shoulder but her hand passed right through her friend. She started back as Ava sobbed. 

“That is her dream self Spidergirl, you can’t help her.” Piper stepped back, glancing over her shoulder as Dr. Strange led her back to the path. Her frown didn’t waver. 

“While they are under Nightmare’s spell none of them can hear you.” Piper glanced to the side and spotted two other doorways on the path, one was like looking outside from in a downtown building in New York, but on the other side she could see Powerman holding up a twenty story building that appeared to have been ripped from its foundations and thrown at four figures tied up and unconscious on the ground. Piper recognized herself, Danny, Ava, and Sam all laying on the shadowed pavement as Luke began to sweat. 

“I can do this. I.. I cant hold it! Guys! Wake up!” Their dream selves didn’t even stir, she honestly couldn’t tell if they were alive or not, maybe Luke couldn’t either. Tears were starting to slip from behind his sunglasses. She had to turn away. But the final door was probably the worst. It was a slightly rusty screen door. She could clearly see through it. Sam, a much younger version was stargazing with his father in the desert, just like he’d told her. Then the stars started falling, Sam had to run out of the way of one of them and when he turned back his father was gone. He stepped up to the craters and screamed as bodies Piper didn’t recognize became visible out of the smoke. He kept muttering that he needed to find his helmet. Piper tore her eyes away, tears pricking them.

“Ok that’s messed up.” Dr. Strange laid a hand on her shoulder. 

“We mustn’t linger, you can’t help them.” Spidey nodded and turned her attention back to the path. They paused near an ornate golden door with a frame that reminded Piper of a Chinese pagoda. 

“Ok, you guys win. I will temporarily press pause on my magic bashing. If only because I can’t figure out a logical explanation for any of this, yet.” A cold laugh sounded from behind them and Piper whirled. Sitting there was a man who would have made a killing playing Dracula in movies, he was tall the color of spoiled milk with fangs like a shark and shining yellow eyes. He rode on a horse that was so dark it almost didn’t look real, until it gnashed a set of teeth very similar to its riders and snorted smoke. 

“Too late for that little Spider. I caught you and the good doctor sleeping on the job and now the world belongs to Nightmare.” Spidey didn’t really understand a lot of what Dr. Strange was shouting, something about chains as they appeared in his hands, chains which Nightmare shattered without a second thought. 

“You keep playing the same game your predecessor played, but I’ve changed the rules doctor. Come forth Dreamons!” Piper snorted at the name but dropped the humor as they were attacked by at least a dozen nearly transparent figures of nightmare. She was doing well until one of them popped out of a hole that hadn’t been there before, in thin air. 

“I call no bending the laws of physics!” She called out as she pulled herself back to her feet. Iron Fist checked her arm as Dr. Strange took care of the few straglers they’d missed. 

“The only rule here is survive.” Spidey frowned under the mask. 

“But I thought it was just a dream?” Iron Fist shook his head. 

“We three are living beings walking the world of dreams, if we lose here we are lost forever.” Spidey nodded, leaping up and kicking a stray Dreamon out of the air. 

“Got it no losing.” Nightmare parried a blade thrown at him by Dr. Strange and laughed. For a single moment it almost looked like they had him when Dr. Strange sent a fog after him that trapped him. But he just sucked it all in then blew it back at them.

“Didn’t anyone tell you smoking is bad for you?” Spidey coughed and stepped forwards.

“Dude, you got the whole spooky thing down but funny, not really your thing!” She flicked a web at him, he dodged at the last second. Instead it struck his horse which went down with a bellow. He laughed. 

“How desperate you must be. Allying yourself with children and nonbelievers, sorcerer supreme.” The last two words were spoken with the same kind of tone Flash normally used to call Piper ‘Puny Parker’. Nightmare waved a hand at the downed horse behind him and a sickly green mist enveloped it. Then giant legs began to grow through the webbing. Nightmare laughed as a gigantic spider skittered towards them. “Cede your defeat! This is the eternal night, my world my rules!” 

Dr. Strange threw up a shield and the spider bashed itself against it, it shook worse and worse with every blow. Spidey stepped up to him. 

“Come on you’re the sorcerer supreme right? Blast that pasty faced goon and lets get out of here!” Then Spidey noticed his arms were shaking. 

“With so many minds to feed on Nightmare is too powerful. Brute force won’t win this.” Piper nodded as the doctor continued, sounding more strained with each hit of the giant spider against his shield. “We need to find a way to weaken him. He’ll try to separate us, attack us through our fears. You must keep your wits about you, or we’re finished.” Neither of them noticed the golden door open behind them nor Iron Fist stumbling through it. 

“What about your fear?” There was almost a smile on his face at Spidergirl’s question.

“I am the Sorcerer Supreme, every soul in this reality is under my protection, I can’t afford to be afraid.” Spidergirl scoffed. 

“You’re good I almost believed you.” She turned to say something to Iron Fist and spotted the golden arched door swinging shut. She just managed to catch it and swing it back open, there was a snowy mountain beyond the door, footprints leading away from the pathway. She swore and took off after Danny. 

Dr. Strange summoned a blade and quickly dropped his shield throwing the dagger through the head of the giant spider which fell with a screech, green insectoid blood spilling across the pathway. He sighed deeply, that had taken more out of him than it should have. 

“My powers are waning. We need to stick together.” He turned to where the two teens should have been only to find an empty pathway and endless closed doors. 

“Well that’s just great.”


	24. Doubts And Regrets

Piper found Danny quickly, she normally couldn’t move this fast in this much snow, she couldn’t stand the cold. But despite the snow and wind there was no cold, another tell that this was a dream. The first one of course having been the fact that they were in the dream realm, which hey was apparently a thing. Piper was reasonably certain she was never going to sleep again after this but she had other things to worry about right now. So as per usual she shoved her problems aside and focused. 

“Danny! Dr. Tour Guide said to stay on the path.” Danny shook his head. She couldn’t see his eyes beyond his mask but she could tell that something was wrong with him. 

“This is K’un-Lun. I trained here, this is my home.” Piper had to jog to keep up with his pace. 

“Yeah and I’m sure it’s lovely, in real life. Which this is not! Snap out of it!” The ground shook and Danny stopped in front of a golden pool similar to the one Dr. Strange had used to show them Nightmare before arriving here. A cave in front of them roiled with movement and an honest to god dragon uncurled from the darkness. It was red, its scales shimmering. But it had the face of the demon Nightmare, but Piper wasn’t sure Danny could see that. He had curled his fist, the one that had the power of Iron Fist in it and it was starting to glow. 

“Shou-Lao.” Piper tried to grab him and shake some sense into him but a large scaled foot separated them. 

“Shou no! It’s Nightmare! He’s getting into your head!” The dragon roared and the large red tale smacked her backwards. She hit a barrier of tall gold spikes that hadn’t been there before and tried to lunge forwards but didn’t make it in time as others sprang up forming a circle of spikes around her. She rubbed her ribs as she pulled herself fully to her feet. 

“This is not your home. It never was. You are unworthy of the Iron Fist, associating with unbelievers.” Danny looked down at his glowing hand. 

“I earned the Iron Fist… but there’s always been a part of me that’s wondered if it was really meant for me.” The dragon circled a grin on Nightmare’s face. 

“Danny how can you say that, you are the most worthy guy I know.” The large red tail smacked against the gold spikes causing a reverberating noise that almost had Piper falling to her knees. She snarled and crouched, leaping up she cleared the spikes by barely an inch and made a run for Danny. But Nightmare had other plans. The dragon roared and the wall of sound blasted Piper back out of the door and over the edge of the pathway. She screamed Danny’s name as she went crashing into another pathway, made of the same white marble like material. New doors surrounded her and she banged her fist into the pathway. 

“Shit!” She rolled to her feet a groan falling from her lips as her ribs gave a painful twinge. They weren’t broken but she was gonna have a bruise the size and shape of Florida across her torso for at least two days. She blinked, clearing her vision and spotted a fight happening about ten feet away from her, a fight they were losing. 

Dr. Strange was still fighting back but his cloak had been torn from him, and was currently wrapped in chains by three translucent Dreamons. The magician himself had a shield thrown up against an onslaught of fire Nightmare was breathing at him. She couldn’t get back to Danny right now so she instead lunged forwards, ignoring her ribs and hoping Dr. Strange was braced enough to briefly take her weight. He dropped to one knee, seemingly out of exhaustion but Spidey saw his back tense as though expecting weight so she followed through on her plan and used the magician as a springboard to launch herself above his shield for a moment snapping two webs out from her web shooters, covering nightmare’s mouth and stopping the stream of fire. She landed next to the doctor and helped him to his feet. 

“Come on Doc, we need to beat him. What about your plan, weakening him, like you said before.” A cold harsh laugh passed from behind the wavering shield. 

“There is no plan. Because there is no magic. Isn’t that right Spidergirl. The shield cracked and shattered falling like broken glass to the pathway as Dr. Strange shook. His hands seemed to be worse off as he tried to twist them into the complex movements that conjured his magic. All he got was a small shower of sparks. 

“I didn’t say that… exactly.” Nightmare laughed loudly as he stepped forwards, Spidey’s web shredded around his mouth very similar to the torn maw of Venom. She whirled away from the growing threat as a thump sounded behind her. The Dreamons had dragged Dr. Strange into chains, just like his cloak, which Spidey could no longer see. 

“Of us all Spidergirl you must believe.” He managed before one of the chains wrapped around his face. Spidey ducked, her spider sense shrieking at her as Nightmare, who was now about twice the height of the Hulk though he remained thin and gaunt, took a swing at her. 

“This is not your nightmare little bug!” A sharp cold blast of air smacked into her sending her flying off of the path again. She thought she heard Dr. Strange cry out before she lost sight of him and slammed into yet another new pathway. 

This one was different though. This one wasn’t marble. It was pavement, lined with a well cared for sidewalk. Nightmare stepped out of a shadow of a tall pine tree that lined the other side of the road. 

“I must say I’m surprised. Strange and Iron Fist are true believers, steeped in magic. Yet here you are, last bug crawling.” Spidergirl defiantly pulled herself to her feet. She fell into a fighting stance, waiting as Nightmare’s hair burst into flames, the glow spreading to his eyes. 

“First of all I’m not a bug I’m an arachnid. Second of all I stopped believing in the boogey man years ago. So come on Pasty, take your best shot.” The smile on Nightmare’s face nearly split his skull. 

“Shot. An apt choice of words.” He gestured to the space behind Spidey and she whirled, not sure what he meant. But his meaning became clear as a house came into view. It was one she had seen once recently, nearly three months ago now. It was as it had been though, the night everything fell apart. 

“No.” Nightmare laughed. 

“I can see into your head little Spider, your deepest regrets and most painful failure!” A figure stepped out of the house, a figure she recognized all too well. He was starting to go grey at the temple, glasses sat on his nose and kind brown eyes were visible behind them. He smiled. Piper took an unchonchious step towards the house as he stepped off the porch. 

“Hi Pipes.” She ran, straight into his arms. 

“Uncle Ben!” He grinned wide as he reached up and pulled off her mask. She smiled at him, her bright blue eyes shining, her hair a mess. 

“Still daydreaming huh?” She laughed. 

“You got that half right. It’s so good to see you.” Nightmare started from where he still stood on the pavement. 

“Good to see you? This is your greatest regret! Your deepest most painful failure!” Uncle Ben rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah you said that.” He turned back to Piper. “Who’s the gloomy Gus?” Piper snorted a laugh. 

“Oh Mr. Pasty. He’s just pathetic.” She gave her uncle one more squeeze before she turned back to Nightmare, fire in her own eyes. 

“Listen up loser. You don’t know me, and you sure as hell don’t know my Uncle Ben. Yes I regret what happened to him, but that doesn’t make it some buried secret.” She took a step forwards and Nightmare stumbled back, his hair growing dimmer. “I live with what happened to him every day of my life. And I learned something from it too, a lesson I use every day to help me do what I do. To help me save people! Guess where I learned that magic trick, because I’ll tell you this Tony Stark may have been my father for the past four years but he’s not the only person who raised me!” She snapped a web out at him, wrapping it around him with a flick of her wrist. With a spin on her heel she sent him flying crashing through the side of her old house. She stepped back up to Uncle Ben and he handed her back her mask before pulling her in for one more hug. 

 

“I’m proud of you Pipes.” Piper felt tears sting her eyes and pulled her mask back on.

“Thanks Uncle Ben. I miss you.” With that she stepped up to the hole she’d created, right into what had once been her room. She leaned on the side of the partially destroyed wall. 

“So this is my special dream room huh? Let’s see what I really dream about shall we?” The room shimmered and shifted as if Piper herself was now controlling the world around her. She wondered briefly if this counted as lucid dreaming. But she didn’t dwell on it as a much younger version of herself sat bolt upright in the bed with a tiny scream. The door to the room opened and Uncle Ben came in and sat down on the edge of the bed, holding the young girl close. 

“What’s wrong Pipes?” The young girl on the bed sniffled. 

“I had a nightmare. You and Aunt May were… gone. Just like mom and dad.” Uncle Ben pulled the tiny girl closer and held her tight for a moment. 

“We’re not going anywhere, and even if we did you’ll always have us right here, just like mom and dad.” He said gently tapping right over the little girls heart. She curled up as close to him as she could. “You have to remember sweetheart, nightmares aren’t real. What’s real are the dream we make come true.” Piper smiled and strode over to the other side of the bed where Nightmare was shaking on the floor. His hair had gone out and his eyes lacked the glow they’d held before. 

“That’s your greatest fear isn’t it. Magic may be real but nightmare? Once you face them there’s nothing to be afraid of.” The demon in front of her shrieked and tried to leap at her but she dodged to the side easily, he wasn’t in control of her, and he never would be. His spell was breaking. She could only tell that because Dr. Strange appeared next to her as she stepped out onto the pavement where Nightmare was pulling himself back to his feet. 

“Good to see you Sorcerer Supreme.” She bowed her head slightly as she spoke to Dr. Strange. He smiled and waved his hands. An old style announcers microphone dropped down from thin air and Spidey shook her head at it for a moment. 

“If you’ll do the honors?” She nodded to the magician and took the mic in one hand, tapping it with a gloved finger. 

“It’s open mic night here at the Nightmare Lounge, and I’d like to get things started with a little number I like to call, There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s just a nightmare.” Her last few words echoed around them endlessly. Then the pathway behind them shattered sending white marble flying and Iron Fist stepped out in a burst of white light that filled the space around them until it was just the four of them. 

“Nice entrance.” Danny grinned at her and met Nightmare’s final lunge with a glowing fist to his face sending him flying back towards Dr. Strange who had summoned a familiar looking box. The tentacles inside it wrapped around Nightmare as he shrieked and the lid clicked closed with a small squeak that Piper might have mistaken for a belch if she didn’t know better. 

The world around them dimmed and they were back in the front room of the Sanctum. Dr. Strange was smiling. 

“I have to say, I was not expecting that. We wouldn’t have won without you Spidergirl.” He reached out a scared hand and she shook it gently. “You taught us a valuable lesson about facing our fears.” Piper grinned under her mask and Danny clapped her on the shoulder. Dr. Strange’s smile grew wider. 

“So is Nightmare gone for good?” Spidey asked as Dr. Strange picked up the box and placed it back on its pedestal. He shook his head. 

“We will always have nightmares. It is part of who we are. But I think some of us learned that we become stronger when we face them.” Iron Fist nodded. Dr. Strange held in a laugh. 

“Speaking of nightmares, ever had the one where you have to get back to school before anyone notices you’re gone?” Piper sighed as Danny made a run for the door. 

“Every day of my life.” She took off after her friend. Wong steppe dup to Dr. Strange. 

“You know you could have teleported them back.” Dr. Strange nodded. 

“But where’s the fun in that?” Wong let out a rare chuckle.


	25. A Scare To Remember

Tony shot to his feet, a scream on his lips as he toppled over the chair that sat at his workbench. He landed hard gasping for air. His chest was too tight. He couldn’t breathe. 

“Mister Stark, you need to breathe. I’m calling Miss Potts, you’re having a severe panic attack.” Jarivs’s voice echoed through the room as Tony tried to breathe. In, out. In, out. Shit, he couldn’t get his breath. Not after that dream. He managed to choke out a few words. 

“Call… Piper! Now!” A ringing filled the room that Tony really hoped wasn’t in his head. He stuttered out a sigh as the ringing stopped and a familiar voice echoed around him. 

“Dad?” Tony felt the pressure around his chest release slightly. He managed to pull in a breath. 

“Piper.” There was a moment’s silence. 

“Dad, are you having another panic attack?” Tony laughed slightly. 

“I’m ok, Piper. How’s school?” Piper sounded concerned as she responded. 

“You don’t sound ok.” Tony slowly breathed in and stuttered out another breath. 

“Pepper’s on her way. I’ll be ok. Needed to check on you. Tell me something about your day.” Tony listened to Piper talk about the French quiz she’d had in first period and about the hilarious inaccuracy in her science text book. They talked until Pepper arrived, her heels clicking quickly on the tiles. She knelt down in front of Tony and he smiled slightly at her. 

“Was that Pep I heard?” Pepper smiled at the sound of Piper’s voice through Jarvis’s speakers. 

“It was kiddo, how was the French test?” Tony laughed. Pepper held out a hand and helped him to his feet, guiding him over to the sofa in the corner of the room. Dummy was trilling, tracking Tony’s movement. Tony patted the robot as he passed. Pepper helped him sit down. Tony leaned forwards, putting his head between his knees, letting himself breathe as Piper again recounted her French test. Finally the bands that had been trying to crush Tony’s chest loosened and he breathed easy. He smiled at Pepper. 

“Thanks Pipes. I’m doing much better. You get back to class, I’ll see you when you get home.” Piper said her goodbyes and Tony and Pepper were left alone in the lab. He pulled Pepper into a hug and she rubbed his back soothingly. 

“Tony, do you want to talk about it? You haven’t had a panic attack in nearly a year and a half. Not since the other Avengers moved in.” Tony shook his head. He’d had a nightmare, that was all it had been but he couldn’t get it out of his head. He’d been talking to Piper in the main family level of Stark Tower when a blade he recognized had sprouted from her chest, blood pouring from her lips and the wound Loki’s scepter had created. He’d watched as she fell to her knees, a portal too similar to the one from the battle of New York, appearing behind her, discourging more aliens. He hadn’t even thought about fighting as the other Avengers had leapt past him. He had fallen to his knees pulling his daughter to him as she coughed blood. He’d begged her to stay with him but her bright blue eyes had gone dull. Then he’d woken up, words echoing in his mind, telling him it was just a nightmare. He felt himself sob into Pepper’s shoulder.

Piper flopped down into her detention desk. She’d known the nightmares would take a toll but she’d been hoping it wouldn’t be that bad. Danny had already fallen asleep at his desk and despite her desire to never sleep again she was exhausted after the fight with Nightmare. Luckily all the bruising was hidden under her shirt. She leaned back in her chair as they waited for the others to arrive for their detention. As it had turned out they had been in the dream realm for several hours. Long enough that by the time they snuck back into school they found it was already over and many sleepy students were starting to make their way out of the school, alongside confused teachers. News of the ‘sleeping plague’ was spreading quickly. Turned out it had only gotten as far as Mexico by the time they’d stopped Nightmare. No one was sure how the sickness had been reversed or what had caused it in the first place but it seemed the crisis was over and Piper couldn’t be happier as she felt her eyes slip closed and let herself drift off. 

 

Sam was still shaking. He hadn’t had a dream about his dad in a long time, much less one about the Guardians. The images of Gamora, Drax, Starlord, Rocket and Groot laying bleeding in craters in the desert Sam had once called home was one he wouldn’t soon forget. He couldn’t let the others know what had happened though, he wouldn’t show weakness in front of the team. Ava and Luke seemed fine, at least until Ava spoke. 

“Well that was the worst sleep I’ve ever gotten.” Considering they lived in barracks that could charitably called rooms on the Helicarier that was saying something. Many of the nights there were filled with drills and midnight patrols. Luke nodded emphaticly as he helped Stan the Janitor to his feet. The man rubbed his eyes and yawned. Sam managed to stop his voice from shaking like Ava’s but only just.

“So wait did literally everyone fall asleep?” He asked. The trio paused as they heard Flash babbling past the door. 

“God that was awful! I mean Spidey’s gotta be ok right?” Someone that sounded like Liz Allen, Flash’s girlfriend, spoke. 

“Flash you’re not the only one who had a nightmare! Can you stop obsessing over Spidergirl for one minute?!” A shouting match ensued and the three out of costume heroes crept away from the door. Sam frowned at the other two. 

“Did you guys have nightmares too?” They both nodded. Ava had tears in her eyes Luke was looking right at Sam, a haunted look in his eyes. 

“One of the worst I’ve ever had dude.” Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Sam swore and started opening doors along the hallway. Ava raised an eyebrow. 

“What are you doing?” Sam spoke as he kept scanning rooms, most of them empty. 

“Luke if everyone fell asleep all at the same time why weren’t Danny and Piper in class when we woke up?” Luke swore and began to go down the other side of the hall searching for their wayward team members. Ava grabbed them both and dragged them down the hall. Sam was about to protest but Ava shut him up. 

“Where did we agree to go if we ever got separated by weird shit at school?” Luke nodded realizing what she meant as she nodded towards the detention room. Sam wiggled out of her grip and rushed ahead of them. He pushed the door open and blanched at the sight before him. Everyone else in the school was waking up but Danny and Piper were out cold. Danny’s head was resting on his arms on the desk in front of him. Piper was leaned back in her seat head tilted back, muttering in what sounded like Italian under her breath. Sam shot forwards and shook her hard. She jumped, toppling her chair and wrapping an arm around her ribs. Danny jolted upright before rubbing his eyes. He waved at Ava and Luke, he didn’t look like he’d just woken up from a nightmare. Neither did Piper although she did look like she was in some small amount of pain as she tipped her chair back up and sat back down. 

“Word to the wise, I am not a morning person. I am barely a person but hey, mornings don’t agree with this spider.” Luke snorted as he took his seat next to Danny who looked about ready to drift back off. Ava checked her watch. 

“Parker it’s nearly five thirty in the afternoon.” Piper rolled her eyes as Sam flopped down next to her looking relieved. Luke spoke. 

“So I’m assuming you guys know something we don’t since neither of you seem nearly as freaked about what just happened as the rest of the world.” Piper grinned. 

“You assume correctly my friend.” And she and Danny launched into the story, a slightly edited version. It didn’t feel right to either of them that they had seen into their friends darkest fears. Neither of them shared theirs either, feeling that was something better kept to themselves and between each other in Danny’s case. They grinned at each other as they finished with their five minute rush back to the school. 

“Hence the nap.” Danny stated as he ran a hand through his hair. Someone cleared their throat in the doorway. The whole group jumped then relaxed as they spotted Coulson. 

“Next time you’re discussing saving the world, make sure you closed the door. You’re normally better at that Miss Parker.” Piper shrugged not bothering to suppress her yawn. 

“I’m half asleep over here Coulson and we just saved all of humanity. Cut me some slack.” She said nodding to Danny. Danny nodded in agreement, stretching. He managed to suppress his yawn before he spoke.

“That reminds me, why did Wong call you Miss Stark. I know about the adoption but everyone calls you Parker.” Piper shrugged. 

“I hyphenated when Dad adopted me. But for obvious reasons it was kept under wraps. So he wasn’t wrong, just rude for digging around in my head.” Danny shrugged conceding her point. They took their seats and Coulson flicked the hidden switch that sent them to the Helicarier. A long boring briefing with Fury later and Piper was heading home. The director of SHEILD had talked to just her and Danny, sending the other three off to train while they told him everything that had happened. He nodded and told them that they both had the next few days off. 

“And I don’t want you causing any trouble Spidergirl. I’ve got bigger worries at the moment. I’ve got the Lumarian Star launch in a few days, I cant be cleaning up after teens right now.” Piper had bristled. 

“Hey! I have been nothing but helpful lately.” They were dismissed without an explanation. Piper had frowned and turned to Danny as they headed to the hanger. 

“Did he seem off to you?” Danny nodded slightly but said no more. 

So Piper had hopped the subway after changing back into her civvies. She couldn’t help but think there was something going on that she wasn’t in the loop about. Coulson hadn’t set foot on SHEILD property since he’d gotten her the file she still hadn’t had time to look at, and Fury was definitely not acting like himself. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right as she exited the subway and made her way into the Tower. She was met with Steve in his full Captain America getup. 

“You guys got a mission?” She asked noticing that Natasha and Clint were absent and it was just Bruce in the living room. Bruce shook his head. Steve laughed. 

“Nope. Museum opening. The Smithsonian in Washington is opening the Captain America exhibit tomorrow. They’ve asked me to be there.” Piper nodded and set her bag down next to Bruce who was looking shaky but not too bad. She spoke to Steve as she headed into the kitchen. 

“Why do you have an apartment in Brooklyn again? I mean you pretty much live here anyway.” Steve shrugged as he adjusted his mask. 

“I like not having to fight reporters to get to the subway.” Piper nodded from the fridge where she was grabbing some rare leftovers from the Chinese place down the block. 

“Then don’t leave through the front door, there’s a whole gaggle of them out there trying to see if the Avengers know what happened today.” Bruce shook slightly. 

“We don’t.” Piper nodded grabbing a pair of chopsticks out of a drawer and sticking to container into the microwave. She didn’t have to push any buttons, the microwave was programed to recognize what was put into it and reheat it to the perfect temperature. 

“I do.” She said grabbing a bottle of Coke out of the beverage refrigerator in the pantry. When she turned around Steve and Bruce were standing in the doorway looking shocked. 

“Oh come on, like I don’t save the day just as well as the big boys.” She gave them the shortest version of events, never bringing up Dr. Strange’s name. He seemed like a guy who liked his privacy. Bruce shook his head and gently patted Piper on the shoulder. She hugged him gently in response. She and the Avengers were slowly getting the touch starved scientist back into a place where he was comfortable with touching other people. They both had solid empirical evidence that the Hulk would never hurt her so he seemed to have warmed to the idea somewhat. He returned the hug briefly and Piper grabbed her Chinese out of the microwave. 

“Don’t you have a plane to catch?” She asked as she slipped past the two men in the doorway and snagged her backpack before heading into the elevator. Steve shook his head as she took a massive bite of her food as the doors slid closed. 

“There are days I forget she’s not biologically Tony’s.” Bruce nodded pulling a book off the shelf and settling back down on the couch as Steve caught the elevator to the garage.


	26. Coffee And Advice

The world continued to spin and recovered quickly from the ‘sleeping sickness’ that had taken North America, Canada and several countries in Europe by storm. No one knew how it had happened or what had fixed it but after a week of restless nights the world accepted that this was one of the things that the world would never have an answer to. Several countries came forwards, promising rewards for the hero or heroes that had saved them and their people, but no one came forwards. Piper was never in this for the reward. All the reward she needed was the grin on the faces of her Uncle Bruce and Thor. He was still confused as to why she would push aside all the glory that could come with her heroics but he accepted it. 

The Osborn Charity Gala had been pushed back a week due to the terror that swept the nation. Harry had invited Piper out to their coffee shop and she’d accepted. They’d had a great time without reporters bothering Harry for once since they were all busy running around searching for answers they would never find. Harry had been a bit shaken up, admitting that he had had nightmares about Venom, he hadn’t specified but Piper could see in his eyes that she’d been in his dream too. 

Harry would never tell Piper how much she’d featured in his nightmare. Stumbling through the dark he’d found the symbiote in the warehouse where Spidergirl had finally defeated it once and for all, or at least he hoped it was gone for good. He wasn’t sure he trusted SHEILD, not after they’d missed the symbiote the first time. Spidergirl he felt he could trust, she had done more for him than anyone at SHEILD. According to Agent Hill she’d been the one to create the antidote. But she hadn’t been in his dream. Piper had been, wrapped in the symbiote, only flashes of skin visible beyond the slithering mass. Blood streaked the skin he could see, fangs edging at her throat as she groaned and struggled. Venom’s voice had been distant, like it had never been before. 

‘Let me back in! Or I will find another hossst, a better hossst!’ Piper had screamed as the symbiote had shifted fangs digging into pale skin. It had been then that a familiar voice, Piper’s voice had echoed through his head. 

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s Just a nightmare.’ He’d jerked awake at his desk alone in his room. He had been terrified but hadn’t dared to call Piper, not for several hours, not until he was sure he wasn’t going to turn into Venom again. But here they sat in their regular coffee shop laughing about old jokes and speaking easily. She wasn’t afraid of him, like he’d been terrified she would be. 

“So are you still coming to the Gala with me?” Piper grinned over the rim of her coffee cup.   
“Of course Har.” Harry grinned and leaned forwards. 

“Great, it would have been so boring without you.” Piper grinned. “What color are you wearing, so I know which tie I’ll be strangling myself with.” Piper laughed loudly. Harry grinned, her laugh was something he would never tire of hearing. 

“Hot rod red.” Harry raised an eyebrow, Piper grinned a bit wider. “Dad has taken it upon himself to design my dress and several accessories to go with it.” Harry’s eyebrows rose higher. 

“Accessories.” Piper shrugged snagging one of the donut holes off the neatly stacked tower before them. 

“He’s convinced that trouble has a way of finding me, so since he can’t seem to stop it, he’s… giving me a way to get around it.” Harry nodded grabbing one of the sugary treats himself and changing the subject to school. Soon enough Piper got a text from her dad and had to head out. Harry headed back to the penthouse and raided his closet in search of the right suit. He chose a plain black Armani number with a red vest and matching tie. Someone cleared their throat behind him. 

“I would think the green velvet one would be better. Unless you have a date you didn’t tell me about.” Norman said, his tone light but commanding. Harry smiled slightly, eyes dipping down to the floor. 

“Well I do actually.” Norman stiffened. 

“Oh, who?” His tone had gone cold. Harry curled an arm around himself. 

“Piper, she agreed to go with me. Just as friends.” There was a moments silence. 

“I see.” Harry glanced up at his father. There was a calculating look in his eyes. “She’s a good choice. Smart, elegant, and with a spectacular background. I am going to give you a piece of advice that my father once gave me. When you find something you want, take it, by any means necessary, and never apologize for it.” Norman nodded sweeping out of closet. Harry frowned at the floor. He really did like Piper but she was with Sam, at least from everything he’d heard. He had yet to see the two of them together but… He wouldn’t get in the way of her happiness, no matter what his father said. 

A few nights later found Harry standing in the familiar family level of Stark Tower. He smiled at Pepper Potts who was there to greet him, looking fantastic in a deep blue backless dress. Tony showed up next. His suit was very similar to Harry’s own but the vest and tie were blue like Pepper’s dress. He looked Harry up and down for a minute before rolling his eyes and nodding. The elevator dinged. Harry turned and could have sworn his eyes popped out of his head. Piper stepped out of the elevator her dress floating around her legs. Gold detailing glimmered on the dress, at her wrists above the red gloves and at her neck and ears. Harry blinked a few times. Her short hair was gently curled and small glittering gold pieces glinted there. Her eyes were sparkling, accented with dark eyeliner and gold eye shadow. Harry stepped forwards. 

“You look… spectacular Piper.” Tony grinned slightly. Rhodey was right, the kid did look at Piper like he looked at Pepper. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, maybe it was just Norman. Piper blushed bright red and grinned. This was her first time going to one of the bigger charity galas. Norman was pulling out all the stops for this one, to prove that Oscorp was still going strong and that the rumors of Harry being ill near to the point of death were unfounded. She had gone with Harry to smaller events and the press had often photographed them together. When asked about her in interviews though he would simply state that she was a friend from school, never giving her name or answering any other questions about her. Pepper checked the clock. 

“We need to get going.” They would be taking two separate limos to the venue. It was nearing seven, the sun was just beginning to set. Harry offered her his arm and they stepped into the elevator and headed down to the garage. They would be leaving from separate entrances. Harry held the door open for Piper earning him a grin from her. He stepped into the other side of the limo and sat next to her. She was shifting in her seat. He tentatively reached out and grabbed her hand. She looked up at him. 

“No need to be nervous. You’ve got me.” Piper grinned and squeezed his hand. 

“Always.” The limo took off out of the hidden entrance towards Guastavino’s, one of the ritziest venue’s in New York.


	27. Dance With Danger

Harry squeezed her hand gently and the limo pulled to a stop. The door opened and Harry stepped out first, to the flash of many cameras. He held his hand out for Piper. She took his hand and he helped her out of the limo. More cameras began to flash as Harry held out his arm. Piper took it and followed   
Harry’s lead, waving at the crowd as they headed into the building. They didn’t stop for any reporters but they did pause at the top of the stairs next to Norman Osborn who wrapped a hand around Harry’s shoulder and smiled for the crowd as Piper stepped aside letting the two men have a moment. Norman smiled and waved at the crowd, Harry following his lead. Norman leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear. 

“She could be the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Don’t mess this up.” Harry’s smile grew forced. He reached out and took Piper’s hand and they made their way into the building. It was already packed, people milling around the dance floor, several couches around the room were already full. Harry smiled at Piper, she was surprisingly relaxed, she knew one day she would have to step into this world on her own. She smiled easily at the other people in the room and stood straight, practically radiating power and authority. If Harry hadn’t known her so well he’d guess she was the daughter of some visiting ambassador, or maybe Iron Man. He chuckled to himself as he snagged two drinks off a nearby serving tray. He’d learned early on to tell the difference between alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages at events like this. He held one out to Piper and she smiled at him as he pulled her over to one of the empty couches. They sat and he held up his champagne flute. 

“To friends, always there when we need them most.” Piper’s smile seemed to grow slightly force but she clinked her glass against his and they both drank, the burn of the alcohol surprising neither of them. Harry always had at least one drink at these events, it was how he made it through them. The wait staff never questioned him. He didn’t know it but alcohol didn’t really affect Piper at all so she didn’t mind. They finished their drinks as Norman Osborn stepped up onto the stage. 

“Welcome one and all to the Oscorp Charity Foundation Gala. I would like to thank you all for your donations, know that they are going to a good cause. The money we raise here tonight will be used to fund fifteen new hospitals throughout Calcutta, as well as paying to rebuild schools throughout the middle east.” The crowd politely clapped. Norman inclined his head and raised his glass. “A toast, to a night of good company and good causes.” The applause was much more genuine this time round. Piper had to admit it, Norman Osborn knew how to work a crowd. Harry had clapped along but hadn’t drunk with his fathers toast. The DJ came back to his station and Harry stood. He turned to Piper and held out a hand. 

“May I have this dance?” Piper giggled and took his hand. It was nice. They were both classically trained and she had to admit she loved dancing, it was one of the things she could do before she was Spidergirl, not that many knew that. Harry had assumed it at the first charity gala they’d attended together, back before one tiny spider bite changed Pipers life. The music was slow and they gently waltzed together. 

‘There’s no sunshine, this impossible year.’ Piper giggled slightly as Harry spun her gently. He raised an eyebrow as he pulled her close. 

“What’s so funny?” She shook her head. 

“Panic at the disco? Not really your dad’s style.” Harry nodded as he led her in their dance. 

“No, that’s because I picked it.” Piper nodded slightly as they danced. They swayed to the music until the song ended. Harry smiled warmly as they pulled apart. This was the only reason he liked events like this, he got to be close to the person he cared about most. Her smile was dazzling as they made their way through the crowd to one of the many refreshment tables. Harry snagged two drinks off one of the waiters, non alcoholic this time, and frowned. The waiter wasn’t one of the regular ones at this venue, he had a scar through his cheek, he’d tried to hide it with makeup but he hadn’t done a very good job of it. Harry didn’t say anything though, maybe he was just new. He handed one of the flutes to Piper and smiled. She picked out a chocolate covered strawberry and bit into it. He followed suit.

“Oh good, there are chocolate strawberries this time.” Piper smiled at the familiar voice and stepped aside so Pepper could get to the table. The redhead grinned at the brunette. Tony was hovering behind her and shot his daughter a smile. They couldn’t acknowledge each other here, not without suspicion. But as Pepper began to strike up a conversation with Harry there was a deafening bang and the several people in the crowd screamed. Harry tensed but could do nothing as he was grabbed from behind by the waiter he’d noticed earlier. Most of the wait staff had produced hidden fire arms and one of them had stepped onto the stage. He was short, stocky and had a forehead that could have caved in a brick wall. Tony swore under his breath, he didn’t have a suit on him. He’d been so busy designing Piper’s he hadn’t even thought of it. He knew the man on stage too. His name was Hammerhead a dangerous gangster, he usually ran in midtown. 

“Ladies and gentlemen! We’re so glad you could come tonight! If you’ll be so kind as to place all your valuables into the bag coming around to you we’ll be kind enough not to blow off the heads of the hostages my associates here snagged.” One of the gangsters who had shoved the DJ off the stage spun the spotlight around the room. He stopped it seven times, each time revealing a different person caught by one of the fake wait staff. Then he stopped the spotlight at the table. Hammerhead let out a loud laugh. 

“Good job Boris! You grabbed the Osborn brat. Him you can shoot.” Piper didn’t think as the gangster grinned and raised his gun to Harry’s head. She taped the tiny arc reactor built into the belt that sat high up on her dress and lunged. The armor folded out, in the full light of the spotlight, and she blasted a repulsor beam into the gun the gangster. Harry dropped to the floor on instinct and Piper punched the gangster in the sternum as the armor fully unfolded. The helmet clicked into place and the readout screen popped up, JARVIS greeting her. 

“Hijack the DJ station J. If we’re doing this we’re doing it in style.” 

“Very well what shall I play?” Piper thought for a second, the whole room was too stunned to move, except for Tony who was fiddling with his watch. 

“Power by Little Mix.” The music started as one of the windows blasted open and bits of the Mark Forty Two Point Five burst in and Piper took off. The gangsters were starting to panic, nearly all of them had released their captives and most were running but Hammerhead had his gun trained on Piper so she landed on the stage both repulsors primed and ready.


	28. Double Teamed

Hammerhead raised his gun but Piper was faster, blasting a shot into the gun overheating the metal in seconds. The gangster cried out dropping the red hot metal to the stage where it sizzled. He lunged and Piper brought her knee up into his stomach sending him flying back, wheezing, into Iron Man who snagged both his arms and cuffed them together with the restraints he’d built into the armor for things like this. Piper straightened, her armor gleaming. Tony stepped over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as the crowd stared. He raised his other hand and waved as many of the crowd began to clap. Piper followed his lead and waved as the com unit in her helmet crackled to like. 

‘Go home, fly out as soon as I let go.’ She made a noise of protest, scanning the crowd under her faceplate. 

‘Osborn is fine. Go now. There’s gonna be a hell of a lot of backlash from this.’ Piper nodded slightly as camera’s from phones and the few professional crews who had been allowed into the gala itself flashed. Tony let go of her shoulder and she took off out of the already broken window, heading straight to Stark Tower. She landed on the roof and tapped the arc reactor again. The armor retracted and her skirt swirled around her in a breeze. She sat down hard on the edge of the roof and sighed. 

Harry managed to slip away from the gala easily. Everybody was focused on Tony Stark anyway. He’d stepped out of the armor shortly after Piper had flown off. He had to admit that had been a hell of an experience. She was a complete badass, making quick work of the lead gangster. He’d known that she was probably trained in using the armors but that fighting style hadn’t been Iron Mans, much closer to Black Widow. He thought as he slipped into his limo. 

“Stark Tower as fast as you can.” 

Tony was already getting tired of this. The reporters in the room had shoved their way to the front of the crowd and were now battering him with questions. None of which he wanted to answer without Piper present. But sending her home had been the right thing to do right now, he could tell she was panicking just from the way she’d slowly pulled herself to her feet. He cleared his throat into the mic. 

“Alright you all have a hundred different questions but I don’t think now is the time or place to answer them. Come to Stark Tower tomorrow morning I’ll hold a press conference then.” His patience had run out as one of the reporters yelled another question, something about Piper being a science experiment. He stepped back into the armor and, noting that Pepper had already slipped away, flew out of the shattered window. They would bill him for the repairs but he didn’t care. He had bigger things to worry about. 

Harry was shocked when JARVIS didn’t try to stop him, instead depositing him on the roof. For a moment he wondered why she was up here but he brushed it aside as he loosened his tie. He stepped out of the elevator and spotted her immediately. She was sitting on the edge of the roof, leaning her now bare arms against the metal railing. Her earrings, necklace, gloves and bracelets lay on the roof next to her in a messy pile. Harry’s footsteps weren’t exactly quiet as he made his way over to her but she made no move to acknowledge him. He sat down next to her, letting his own feet dangle next to hers. Only then did she look up. Harry’s heart gave a painful twist. There were tears running down her face. He slowly reached out and she let him take her hand. It took a minute but he spoke.

“I’m so sorry Piper.” She shook her head, swiping at her eyes with her free hand. She made to speak but couldn’t quite manage it so Harry continued. “I thought something was odd about that waiter. If I had just said something.” Piper shook her head again. 

“Harry. This isn’t your fault. That was my choice. I… I couldn’t let him hurt you. I can’t lose anyone else Harry. I won’t lose anyone else.” Her and tightened around his. He gave her a melancholy smile. 

“You’ll never lose me.” She snorted and turned her head away from him. Her hair had lost some of its glittering gold ornaments. He tentatively reached out and tilted her face back to him. There were fresh tears in her eyes. 

“You know Uncle Ben used to say the same thing.” She sniffled as the tears began to fall anew. “Everyone I care about gets hurt.” She sobbed and Harry pulled her into a hug. She buried her face into his shoulder. 

“I’m not hurt Piper. I promise. I would have been if you hadn’t done what you did. I’m just sorry you had to out yourself like that to do it.” Piper sniffled into his shoulder. 

“I don’t care that everybody knows now.” Harry pulled back slightly looking Piper in the face. Piper wiped her eyes.

“I mean they were going to find out eventually. We weren’t gonna be able to keep it a secret in a few years anyway, not once I turn eighteen.” Harry nodded. When she turned eighteen Tony planned to start teaching her the ins and outs of running the company, just like his dad planed for him. Piper laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.

“I’m just glad you’re ok Harry.” Harry smiled. 

“I could say the same about you. That was both badass and terrifying.” Piper laughed as they looked out over the lights of the city.

 

Sam growled to himself as he flipped through his calculus notes. He hated that he had to be back at school now. He’d essentially taken a year off with the Guardians in space, and that had been a year of learning how everything worked from Rocket, teaching himself to understand Groot and learning to kick ass from Gamora and Drax. Plus dancing lessons from Peter Quill but he’d never talk about those embarrassing moments out loud. Someone knocked on his door and he sighed loudly.

“Go away, unless you’re Ava with Calculus help.” The door slid open. It wasn’t Ava, it was Luke. He stepped into the room and snagged the remote off the tiny bookshelf at the end of Sam’s bed. Sam was about to ask what he was doing when Luke flicked on the small TV set into the wall near the door. He flicked to one of the more mainstream news channels and turned up the volume. It was a commercial for potato chips.

“Buddy, why would you interrupt my brain bashing session for lays?” Sam asked slightly confused. Luke plopped down on the end of the bed and motioned for silence. The commercial ended and a pretty brunette came on the screen. She was standing outside a long beautiful building with a shattered window. Sam frowned. 

“I’m here outside Guastavino’s which tonight played host to the Osborn Charity Gala which ended mere moments ago.” Sam raised an eyebrow and checked his watch. Piper had said these things usually ran until at least midnight. It was only nine forty. He was about to ask what had happened when Luke shushed him and the reporter continued. 

“The long anticipated Charity event was cut short after a group of gangster, lead by the infamous Hammerhead, took the Gala hostage. Their reign of terror over the eliet of New York was swiftly ended however by the Iron Lass. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s my pleasure to confirm for you today that Iron man indeed has a daughter.” The camera switched to prerecored footage that must have been taken from a different entrance of the building. Harry Osborn stepped out of his limo followed by Piper. The footage froze and the reporters voice spoke over the unmoving image.

“Eye witness accounts state that this girl, who has been seen on the arm of Harry Osborn many times before, is in fact the Iron Lass. Witnesses inside the Gala state that the gangsters took hostages and threatened to kill Harry Osborn, which is when the young hero leapt into action. Little is known about the girl, Tony Stark has scheduled a press conference tomorrow at Stark Tower. Back to you Jim.” Luke clicked off the news footage and turned to Sam who had frozen his pencil halfway to the paper. 

“Shit.” Luke nodded. 

“Yeah.”


	29. Dealing With Death

The team was called to the Helicarier the next morning by a very solemn Coulson. He sat them down in one of the conference rooms which was odd. What was odder was that he looked, well he looked tired. His tie was loose, his shirt un-ironed. There were deep bags under his eyes. He rubbed a hand across his forehead. Then he sighed and slowly turned his chair to face the costumed heroes. 

“I’m not gonna mince words with you, this is a difficult job. Very few who live this life come to a peaceful end.” Piper’s heart dropped into her shoes. She’d heard Steve tell stories of speeches like this. She quickly glanced around, all of them were here. Except… but no. She was pretty sure he was immortal anyway. But then who…? Coulson cut across her overworking mind. 

“I regret to have to be the one to tell you, but Director Fury has been killed.” The room was so silent it was like none of them were even breathing. Ava’s claws dug into her chair. She couldn’t see the other girls face but her quivering voice told Piper that Ava was on the verge of tears. 

“You… You’re kidding right. You can’t be serious.” Piper pulled off her mask and threw it across the room. Though the fabric was soft one of the lenses made contact with the wall and shattered from the force of her anger. Danny had his head bowed and seemed to be muttering a blessing under his breath. Sam was shaking his head, seemingly in denial like Ava. Luke shook slightly as he leaned forwards. 

“H… How did it happen?” Coulson got that look on his face, like he was about to say it was classified. But then the grief returned and he pulled a remote out of his pocket. He kept it covered by his hand and pointed it at the corner behind him. Piper frowned at him as he slipped the remote back into his pocket. 

“We have about five minutes, unmonitored. Director Fury was murdered.” Piper’s heart gave a painful twist as Ava sobbed. “He was attacked on the streets, in his car which was unmarked, it shouldn’t have been possible for someone to find him, but they did. He made it to Captain Rodger’s Brooklyn apartment, but he was followed. He was shot through the wall. One in the chest, two in the stomach. He died on the table.” Piper didn’t manage to keep her voice from shaking. 

“And the bullets, you can use them to trace the fucker who did this right?” It was how the police had ended up finding Mathew Hardy, the man who’d killed her uncle. Coulson shook his head. 

“Soviet slugs, no rifling. We aren’t even sure at this point what kind of gun he used.” Piper frowned as Danny pulled Ava into a hug and let her sob into his shoulder. 

“He?” Coulson nodded. 

“Captain Rodgers went after him. Almost caught him too. Got a look at him, but he was masked, all we know is he’s long dark hair, and he’s incredibly strong. He caught Captain Rodgers shield with little effort.” Piper sat back in her chair. That was damn near impossible to do unless the man himself had taught you how to do it. Her breath shook as she breathed out. 

“As of this moment SHEILD is under the command of Secretary Alexander Pierce. The job should have passed to Agent Maria Hill, but no one can seem to find her. As of right now, the team needs to lay low. No causing trouble, go after the smaller stuff. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. I don’t know what’s going to happen to this program under Secretary Pierce.” Luke cracked the arm rests on his chair at that. “I have every reason to believe he will keep the program intact. But you need to know that there’s a possibility that he will terminate the program. I don’t know and you deserve to know everything I know.” Piper stood on slightly shaky legs and stepped over to where her mask lay on the ground. She picked it up and held it for a moment staring at the shattered lens. She shook her head. Nova still hadn’t spoken. Piper glanced up and saw that his seat was empty and smoking slightly. Without a word she pulled on her damaged mask and raced out after him. She ran smack into a wall of metal and swore colorfully. 

“Careful kid, wouldn’t want your parents to hear you swearing like a sailor.” Piper froze, so glad now that she’d pulled on her mask before she left the room as she looked up into the helmetless face of her father Tony Stark. She took a half step back and Tony smiled. 

“Got to say I’m surprised to see you on your feet, you looked like shit last time I saw you.” Spidey reached up, by all appearances to scratch her neck but instead flicked a miniscule switch in the back of her mask that distorted her voice. 

“Uh… Thanks Mr. Stark. I gotta.” Tony stopped her a hand on her shoulder. Her heart beat in her ears.

“You should get that lens looked at, looks like its about to fall to pieces. Maybe I could.” He reached out and she leapt to the ceiling hurriedly scurrying along it until she was well out of his reach. He raised his hands as if in surrender. 

“Ok no touching the Spider, got it. Do you know where Fury is? Or Coulson. I’d settle for rubbing in his face how well I did at the press conference this morning.” She pointed into the conference room and took off down the hall. She needed to find Nova, and get as far away from her father as possible. 

Tony shook his head slightly. The Spider kid was creepy, she moved like an actual spider when not on the floor. But her voice had sounded almost familiar. He shook himself and headed into the room. 

 

Nova was in the shooting range blasting LMDs with no mercy. He didn’t hear the door open behind him but he heard someone move. He turned and fired. Spidey dropped flat to the floor to avoid his shot. She managed it though. Sam dropped out of the air landing hard, not bothering to catch himself. He crumpled and Piper stepped up to him. She knelt down and he tossed aside his helmet. He stopped glowing and she finally saw his face, streaked with tears. He lunged forwards and wrapped Piper in a hug and sobbed into her shoulder. She held him for a few minutes. 

“It feels like losing my dad all over again.” Piper pulled him closer and let him cry.


	30. It's A Trap

None of them could go to the funeral, which was held in Washington DC. They each went their separate ways to grieve. No one had heard from Natasha or Steve. Not since he’d apparently smashed his way out of the Triskelion. Something about this whole situation smelled bad to Piper. Secretary Pierce was calling him a traitor and a criminal. It didn’t sit right with her. Nor did it sit right with Tony who after he returned from the Helicarier shut himself up in his lab. Piper left him alone to grieve. They each had their own ways of doing so. His was drinking until he blacked out. Hers was usually going out and beating on criminals but she didn’t feel like it as she stared at the ceiling of her room. It was rare that anyone came into her actual room so she had been able to paste all the information Coulson had given her about her parents up on her ceiling. Red threads connected a small portion of it. Most of it was old requisition forms and some interesting mission reports but the ones that were tied together were all to do with Oscorp. Her phone buzzed and she answered without looking at the caller id.

“Hello?” There was a loud beep. She swore and pulled her phone away from her ear as several other beeps began to play varying in tone and length. She grabbed a pen off her bedside table and tapped the pen in rhythm with the tones. Morse Code. She quickly deciphered it as the message played back then the call cut off. She checked the caller ID, it was a Washington number, one she didn’t recognize. She stared at the message messily scrawled in pen on her side table. 

‘SHEILD COMPRIMISED TRUST NO ONE.’ She jumped as her phone buzzed again. This time she checked the caller ID. It was Harry. She took a deep breath to steady her voice. 

“Hey Har.” She could hear the grin in his voice.

“I passed!” She frowned still staring at the message on her table. 

“What?” Harry laughed. 

“Exams, the results just got released! Six A’s and one B minus!” Piper forced a smile even though he couldn’t see her. 

“That’s great Harry.” Harry nodded enthusiastically. 

“And I couldn’t have done it without your notes! Dad wants to take us both out to dinner to celebrate. Please come. We can watch dad shout at people, that’s always fun.” Piper let out a short laugh.

“Sounds like a plan. Would you guys be coming to pick me up?” 

“Absolutely! In an hour, sound good?” Piper nodded letting Harry know that it sounded great and saying her goodbyes before hanging up still staring at her bedside table. She spoke. 

“JARVIS, get into my phones call log. I need you to delete the second to last call I just received. I want every record of it expunged.” The AI complied. Piper stepped over to her closet. She found a pair of slacks and a nice long sleeved top. She wasn’t going to be taking off her suit for a while but she had just enough time to switch out the lens. She changed and hurried off to her lab. She slipped her mask into her purse and headed down to the buildings exit. She slipped out the back and hurried off to the spot Harry had agreed to meet her. 

They had just reached the restaurant when Piper’s watch beeped she excused herself to the ladies room and answered the call. It was Luke in full costume. 

“We got a lead on the Frightful Four, at Oscorp. We’re gonna need your help.” Piper swore. She made her way back to the table looking very apologetic, Harry’s heart dropped. 

“That was dad. He just got some seriously bad news. I need to get home. I’m so sorry Harry.” Harry stood reaching out to them. 

“What happened?” She let him take her hand, both ignoring the cell phone cameras not so discreetly pointed their way. Piper swiped at her eyes, she didn’t really have to fake her tears, she hadn’t let herself cry yet. 

“A friend died.” Harry pulled her close. He nodded and let her go. 

“I’m so sorry Piper. Do you need a ride home?” Piper shook her head. 

“He’s sending Happy. Thanks for understanding Har.” Harry nodded. Piper turned and spotted the empty seat next to Harry.

“Where...?” Harry shook his head. 

“Work called, he left.” Piper pulled Harry into a tight hug. 

“I’m sorry Harry. I… If it wasn’t an emergency.” Harry shook his head. 

“No you go. I get it.” Piper hugged him one last time. She hated lying to him, there were days she really just wanted to tell him everything. But he was safer not knowing. She changed in an alley and swung off to the location Luke had given her. She had a horrible feeling about this. Not to mention the message she’d received earlier that day. 

When she reached the warehouse things were going well. Luke tossed Thundra into one of the supports around the room. Iron Fist and Nova had teamed up against Klaw and Wizard. That left Trapster against White Tiger. Spidey shot a line of web at the bald man and yanked the glue pack off his back. He stumbled and grinned up at the ceiling as the other three members of the supervillain team positioned themselves around the crate he was standing next to. 

“Let me guess, this is.” The bald man grinned at Spidey as she landed at the head of the group. 

“A trap!” He slammed the crate open and a swarm of robots identical to the one Piper had needed a subway to beat burst forth swarming the heroes. Six went after each of the other heroes backed by a member of the frightful four. The rest of them went after Spidergirl. She swore as she ducked and weaved, but there were too many of them. Something hard struck her across the ribs forcing the air out of her. Then another of the bots brought itself down on top of her. Her head smacked into the concrete floor of the warehouse and everything went black.


	31. Empty Rooms

Pepper smiled at the TV. The news station was replaying the press conference Tony had held that morning. Piper Parker was the biggest news in New York right now. She watched as Tony smiled at the camera. 

“Alright New York, I’m actually sticking to the cards this time.” He waved the blue note cards Pepper had written him at the camera and there were several laughs. He looked down at the cards. 

“The events last night did indeed confirm that I, Tony Stark, have a child. I am here to confirm this and put several rumors surrounding her to rest. Her name is Piper Parker-Stark, she chose to hyphenate when I adopted her four years ago. She is a brilliant student at Midtown High, no matter how much I try to convince her to skip ahead to college.” There were more laughs from the crowd. 

“As to the circumstances that lead to her being placed into my care, for her sake I won’t go into too much detail. She is, or rather was the daughter of some dear friends of mine who when she was born made me her god father, something I protested but they did it anyway.” More laughter from the crowd along with a few flashes from cameras. 

“She is the light of my life and yes before you ask she is the heir to Stark Industries. I’ll take a few questions from the crowd now.” The door to the elevator opened and Pepper turned and smiled at Tony as he flopped down next to her on the couch. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and dropped a kiss to her cheek. He laughed at the footage playing on the screen. One of the reporters had asked if Piper was ever going to be included in the Avengers initiative. 

“No! The events of last night were… unfortunate. I do not want my daughter anywhere near crime fighting if I can help it. I made her that suit for her own protection. She does not have access to the Iron Man armor. Nor any of the weapons of the Avengers. She has had self defense lessons for a few years, New York is a dangerous place.” Tony snorted and shut off the TV. Pepper made a half hearted grab for the remote. Tony held it just out of reach until Pepper stopped grabbing for it. Then he let himself relax against her. 

“God it’s been a long day.” Pepper ran her hands through his hair. 

“What happened?” Tony sighed. 

“I found out Nick Fury died, apparently Captain America is an enemy of the state, Natasha is missing. And Clint got beat to hell, again supposedly by Captain Spangles.” Pepper frowned. 

“None of that sounds right.” Tony nodded into the crook of Pepper’s shoulder. The redhead rubbed his back. 

“That’s what I thought. How’s the PR on your end going?” Pepper laughed.

“Surprisingly well. Someone leaked Pipers school records to the company, but JARVIS took care of that. So far its been mostly fielding requests from different talk shows to have the first interview with Tony Starks Heir.” Tony snorted. 

“I wonder how Piper’s taking all of this.” Pepper rolled her eyes as Tony sat up. 

“JARVIS! Where is my kid?” The British AI spoke.

“She is in her room sir.” Tony nodded and hopped off the couch and headed into the elevator after snagging one more kiss from Pepper. He thought as the elevator took him up to her level. She hadn’t know Nick Fury very well, they’d met only twice after all. Once before the Battle of Manhattan and once when the rest of the Avengers moved into the tower. He sighed as he knocked on her door. 

“Pipes? Can I come in?” No answer. He frowned. “Piper?” Still no answer. “J are you sure she’s in there.” 

“Miss Parker is in her room, sir.” Tony frowned. He stepped over to the small keypad on the wall and keyed in his access code. He had one for every room in the tower, in case of emergency. He’d never had an occasion to use this one before but something in his gut told him that something was very wrong. 

“Ok kiddo I’m coming in!” Still no sound. He stepped into the dark room and frowned. The bed was messy like it had been slept in but there was no person in it. He flicked on the lights and his frown grew deeper. The room was messy, he expected it to be, Piper wasn’t exactly fastidious in her cleaning habits. Some clothes were strewn here and there on the floor, her trashcan was almost full. He peeked to the other side of the bed. Some papers had fallen from her desk but the room was devoid of his daughter. He glanced around as if she would suddenly appear. 

“JARVIS. Where did you say Piper was?” 

“According to my scanners she is in the same room you are in sir.” Tony checked under the bed. Nothing. He pulled himself up on her bedside table and noticed a message scrawled there in hasty pen. 

SHEILD COMPROMISED, TRUST NO ONE. 

He blanched, there were few people in the world who could get into JARVIS to mess up his sensors this bad. Many of them worked for SHIELD. He ran down the hall towards his lab. He had to find his daughter, now.


	32. Figure It Out

The first thing Piper felt was cold, something cold and metal wrapped around her arms. She tried to shift them, to shake them off. But they didn’t budge instead biting into her arms uncomfortably. She groaned, her head was swimming. She tried to move her legs and found that they too were bound though not quite as tight. She had yet to open her eyes, she could still feel her mask in place, so wherever she was, whoever had her hadn’t removed it. She couldn’t help but wonder why that was as she shifted again. Small movements like she was still asleep, just stirring. She had yet to draw attention to herself so she counted it a win so far. This wasn’t the first time she’d been captured after all. But this time she wasn’t sure anyone had her back. She mulled over the message she’d received earlier that day as she made small movements slowly and steadily loosening the bonds around her arms. 

There were a set few people who could have sent that message. It had to be someone who knew her personal phone number. That narrowed the field significantly. The area code of the number that had called her had been a Washington DC area code. That implied that it was likely that the phone had been in Washington DC. That narrowed the field to just two people. Maybe three, she hadn’t heard from Clint in a few days. But he often disappeared for long stretches of time. Ah there we are, a weakness in the bindings. Just a bit more wiggling and her left arm would be free. She heard clicking on what had to be concrete floors and kept herself limp in her bonds only shifting occasionally, everyone moved in their sleep after all, it shouldn’t cause any suspicion.

Doctor Otto Octavius hummed softly as he worked. Yes the underwater lab had been a setback, but he’d managed to make it to another hidden lab in time to charge and repair his damaged limb. He’d been expecting Osborn to send troops after him but instead the same intercom system that had been used at his old lab had flickered to life. Norman was impressed that he’d not only captured Spidergirl on his own but evaded SHEILD. He was eager to continue his employing the doctor, he wanted to get at Spidergirl. Octavius shook his head, glancing over his shoulder at the prone superheroine hanging by her arms and legs, suspended in the appendages he’d installed all around the laboratory. They were identical to his own, even controlled in the same way. 

For a moment he toyed with the idea of changing his plan. With the collar he head developed she would be at his mercy… but no. His plan was much sweeter than the subjugation of one hero. His plan was perfect. He glanced over at the stirring hero. She had groaned a few minutes ago and she was shifting more than she had been when the octobots had brought her to him. He smiled, he wouldn’t be surprised if she was already awake. She stirred again and he stepped over to her. 

“I know you’re awake little hero.” The whites of the mask opened and she stared at him. 

“Dr. Octavius. Long time no see, what like a week?” Dr. Octavius snorted shaking his head. 

“Such a talkative little arachnid.” A smile came into her voice as she spoke wiggling slightly. 

“Hey, you got it right this time!” He snorted again.

“Science must be accurate. My autopsy of you needs to be accurate.” Piper swore under her breath, she wasn’t quite free yet, a little bit more struggling would do it but there was something crawling on her back. She wriggled trying to shake it off but something sharp jabbed her between the shoulder blades. It bit deep and she couldn’t help the scream that tore itself from her lips. It took a few minutes but the needle was eventually removed and another jabbed into her shoulder. This one didn’t hurt nearly as much and was over much faster. Her ears rang as she saw two small robots each with a vail attached to it. One was filled with a red fluid, the other with a clear fluid. She blinked as her vision went slightly wobbly and one of Octavius’s limbs plucked the clear fluid from one of the robots. 

“Spinal fluid, and quite a bit of it. I imagine you are not feeling very well. Don’t worry though, you wont feel any lasting effects. It’s likely that your rapid healing the effects would wear off quite quickly, a few hours at most. But you won’t live that long. But I want you to live just long enough to see what’s going to happen. I think you’ll find it quite interesting.” Spidey slumped slightly in her bonds. Her stomach was in revolt, her ears ringing and her back stung. 

“You see your DNA is quite… interesting. My experiments aren’t even close to recreating it, though there are some similarities to a spider I developed years ago.” She shook her head and frowned, that spider hadn’t been an Octavius creation. “But I have been able to do something particularly spectacular with your DNA before.” An image appeared on the screen Octavius was working on. He took the blood sample from the other small robot. He fed both samples into the machine as the image on the screen moved, darkening and writhing. She blinked. That couldn’t be. 

“You made Venom!” Octavius laughed as she finally wiggled enough to get to her wrist, where her communicator should be. 

“Don’t bother, I already took your communicator. No SHEILD, no friends are coming this time. Tonight it’s just the three of us. You, me, and my revenge.” Piper shook slightly and squirmed harder in her bonds. 

 

The team was panicking, Sam most of all. He swore in the background kicking one of the prone octobots as Ava called Coulson. The agent sighed. 

“Her communicator is giving off ghost signals all over town. I have a team out searching, but I cant get another one until tomorrow.” The team all made noises of protest. 

“I know. But I can’t get ahold of Secretary Pierce, there’s a meeting of the world security council tomorrow, so it’s not that surprising.” Sam leaned over Ava’s shoulder.

“That’s not good enough! Octavius could be doing anything to her! And we have to sit and wait!” Coulson shook his head. 

“Is that what she would do?” The team froze, Coulson continued. “The whole reason the Late Director Fury recruited her in the first place was that he thought she would be a good influence on you four. A good teacher. It’s your turn to do what she does best. Figure it out.” The transmission cut out.


	33. Something New

Tony stared at the ball of information in front of him. JARVIS’s source code shimmered in the lights of the lab, a soft gold color, but here and there were twining lines of white, like scars on the code, but no they wove together. He pulled his hands out and the code expanded. It was a holographic representation of JARVIS, his whole being, and these white line spread throughout them. Tony swore. Whoever did this, they were a technical genius. Moreover they knew his systems inside and out. He tapped one of the lines. 

“J highlight these areas of code, the white ones.” Tony clapped his hands together, shrinking the hologram back to its regular size. The lines lit up and Tony stared. He turned as the door to the lab opened. It was Bruce, carrying a cup of coffee. The doctor clearly hadn’t been able to sleep. It was nearing midnight. He blinked at Tony. 

“What’s going on?” Tony pointed to the gold hologram behind him. 

“This is JARVIS’s source code, everything he does, everything he is laid out right here.” Bruce circled the hologram in awe. 

“He’s beautiful, Tony this coding is incredible.” Tony nodded the note of pride in his chest smothered by the situation. 

“I know. You see what’s wrong though.” Bruce nodded and tapped the edge of a white line in the coding. 

“It’s been altered, pretty heavily. Pretty expertly too. How come the alterations are a different color.” Tony sighed.

“Something’s wrong with his system. I haven’t changed it in years. So I had him find out any alterations that were made after the last time I altered his coding. These are what he found.” Bruce nodded taking a step back. Tony paced. 

“What does it look like to you?” Bruce paled slightly as he took another step back. The white lines all fed into one another, weaving and spinning around the coding.

“It… It looks like a web.” Tony nodded. 

“I think I know who altered JARVIS. And I think I know how to fix it.”

 

Nova paced in mid air. It had been nearly ten minutes and none of them had any idea. The battle had been too hectic for any of them to even see her get taken let alone which direction the bot had gone. There was a faint click and one of the mostly intact arms of the bots opened and a much smaller, spiderlike bot crawled out and started heading towards one of the now empty crates. They each led somewhere different, Nova had flown down a couple of them, only reaching dead ends or other crates. Luke stepped forwards ready to smash the bot but White Tiger caught his arm. 

“No! Don’t smash it. That octobot is going somewhere, and were gonna follow it.” The plan was all well and good but the octobot was small and slow. Danny leaned against the wall, eyes closed, it wasn’t like it was going to outrun them at this crawl. Nova growled. 

“This is taking too long. We need a better plan.” Ava shook her head. 

“No what we need is speed. Nova can you energize that bot without frying it?” He stared at her. 

“That’s actually a good idea.” He carefully zapped the bot and it took off at high speed down the crate and into a tunnel. They raced after it, hoping against hope that they weren’t too late. 

Spidey’s ears were still ringing. But she needed answers. 

“Why did you make Venom?” She asked as Doc Oc tinkered with one of the panels. 

“The why doesn’t matter anymore.” She grunted as she shifted again, covering the sound of straining metal. 

“Kinda matters to me. I got a look at the symbiote, I gotta say it was pretty brilliant, psychotic and a little blood lusty for my tastes but definitely a work of genius.” Doc Oc nodded. 

“It is isn’t it.” Piper frowned behind her mask as she finally managed to wriggle her right arm free. 

“Is? I hate to break it to you but I destroyed it.” Doc Oc shook his head not looking up from his control panel. 

“You destroyed the part of the symbiote that was in poor Harry Osborn, but before you developed your, quite brilliant, cure I got my hands on quite a bit of his blood. Which as I’m guessing you know, had mingled with the symbiote.” He pulled open a container next to his control panel and pulled out a container the same size and shape as the containers full of blood and spinal fluid he’d taken from her. This one was filled with black ooze. She twisted her free arm up to reach the second arm restraint. This one was tighter but several of the panels were loose higher up on the metal tentacle. She spoke again to hopefully drown out the sound of wrenching metal. 

“So you stole Harry’s blood from SHEILD?” Oc shook his head.

“Oh no. I was gifted this blood and not by your little organization.” Her mine was racing as she peeled off the panel and began wrenching at the wires within. 

“Then who?” Oc laughed. 

“Oh you’ll see.” She needed to keep him talking keep him distracted. 

“So how did you create Tall Dark and Spooky anyway?” Oc shook his head. 

“God you never shut up do you.” Then he laughed. “You know its funny, you could count Venom a close relative. I created him out of a sample of your blood after all. But with these samples I should be able to create something much more interesting, more deadly, something I control.” He was recombining the DNA strands, resequencing them as the three samples mixed together into a small set of vials. It had turned an acrid, toxic looking green. The restraint on her left arm loosened and she smiled under her mask. It was a simple task to pull herself out of the leg restraints and drop to the floor without a sound. Octavius pulled a syringe full of the green liquid out of the panel and smiled. 

“Now all I need is my test subject.” He turned and growled at the empty restraints. Two webs smacked into the tentacles he used as legs, sticking them down to the floor. Seconds later both of his arms were stuck too and he growled as Spidergirl stepped out of the shadows. 

“Surprised Doc? You aren’t very good at this whole supervillain thing yet. Superhero 101 always sneak out after you get the villain monologuing.” He struggled but seemed unable to break out of his bonds. She shook her head at him.

“You were such a brilliant scientist once, what happened to you Doc?” She felt her spidey sense go off nanoseconds before electricity coursed through her and she screamed dropping to her knees. After a minute or so the pain stopped and she managed to fall facing her attacker. Her eyes widened. 

“Norman Osborn!?”


	34. A Web Unweaving

“See the principle of the thing is actually stunning.” Tony said as he stepped around the hologram of JARVIS’s source code. “The alterations are small, in different places, they weave into each other and create well like you said a web. But if you try to undo one of them… Well I’m not actually sure what happens. It could unweave them all, it could spread the intrusive code and strengthen the other strands, or it could completely trash Jarvis.” Bruce shook his head. 

“No look at the code closer.” The doctor zoomed in on one of the lines towards the center. “It’s not designed to harm the code around it just separate it. It’s causing blind spots in JARVIS’s programing.” Tony nodded.

“I already knew that.” Bruce frowned. 

“What do you mean Tony?” Tony shuddered. 

“Piper’s missing. JARVIS keeps claiming she’s in her room but she’s not. Doesn’t look like she’s been in there for a few hours.” Bruce paled for an entirely different reason. He knew who had messed with JARVIS and that she would never set out to destroy the AI. But he also knew that she had fought like hell for close to two years to keep Tony from discovering the secret he was inches from discovering. “She’s not answering her phone, I can’t get ahold of Coulson…” He shuddered again and Bruce hesitated before pulling him in for a hug. 

“What if someone took her, because they know she’s my kid? This is exactly what we’ve been trying to avoid for almost five years.” He shook for another moment before he managed to pull himself together. “I’ve got the Iron Legion scanning the city, but so far nothing.”

“The Iron Legion are still prototypes.” Tony nodded. 

“But their scanning equipment works fine.” Bruce nodded. 

“Yes but it’s connected to JARVIS. If Jarvis can’t find her they won’t be able to either.” Tony nodded. 

“I know, that’s why we have to figure out how to unravel this web. Then JARVIS should be able to find her.” Bruce nodded. He had to help his friend. There was desperation in his eyes. 

“Then let’s get to work.”

 

Spidey tried to scramble away but her ribs chose that moment to remind her that they’d been badly bruised during the initial fight with the octobots. Norman Osborn smiled down at her. He was in some kind of battle suit made mostly of metal plates. There was a glove on his hand that crackled with electricity, and for some reason had only two fingers and a thumb. She groaned as she gave up trying to get away for the moment. 

“What are you doing here? What’s Doc Oc got on you?” Norman laughed, Piper stared. She’d never seen this man laugh before. It was kind of terrifying.

“You think Octavius is blackmailing me? I’m afraid you’ve gotten the wrong idea dear Spidergirl. You see Octavius is my employee.” Piper stared at him nonplused as he grabbed the front of her costume with his gloved hand. She screamed as he zapped her again. “Octavius has been working for me for years. Recently I had him looking into how to duplicate your powers, with an army of spider enhanced solders to sell neither SHEILD nor Stark will be able to question Oscorp supremacy.” He chuckled again. 

“We’ve been studying you for so long. I feel like I know you, almost like your family.” He hooked two fingers under her mask and began to pull it off, slowly like he was savoring the moment. 

“You have no idea.” She muttered. Everything hurt as she screwed up her face, squeezing her eyes closed as the mask passed her mouth and nose. Then Norman screamed and dropped her. She crumpled and opened her eyes. Octavius had freed himself and jabbed the syringe full of the acidic looking liquid directly into Norman’s spine. The man gasped and dropped to his knees next to Spidergirl. He glared at Doc Oc. 

“You betrayed me!” Octavius laughed. 

“And you claim to be intelligent. Of course, I betrayed you Osborn! You turned me into a freak! You blew up my lab with me in it!” Spidey nodded.

“Yeah that was a pretty shitty thing to do Norman.” He grunted and screamed as his skin seemed to bubble for a moment. Octavius laughed, high and cold as one of his tentacles snapped a collar around Norman’s neck. Spidey pulled herself away from the pair as Octavius laughed louder.

“And the best thing is that you’ve been chasing Spidergirl this whole time and the whole time she belonged to you anyway.” One of his tentacles tapped a screen and the image of the spider that had bitted Piper what felt like ages ago appeared next to a picture of Spidergirl. The DNA strands that sat next to each other had many similarities. “I haven’t figured out quite how it was done but Spidergirl has been your property from the beginning.” Piper shuddered as she finally pulled herself to her feet. She tried to stumble away, the ringing in her ears was finally dying down but the tingling in her limbs was so bad she couldn’t move her hands. One of the tentecles grabbed her hand slammed her into the floor pinning her arms over her head. 

“Now, I need to know what makes you tick. Fortunately I no longer need you alive for that. After all the best way to figure out how something works is to take it apart.” 

 

“I got it!” Tony shouted from his workstation. God this is brilliant! The code weaves together. If you unwind part of it, it becomes more complex the programing spreads. But the core, the center of the web, it’s locked with an alphanumeric password. It’s so simple!” Bruce nodded. Piper didn’t like to overcomplicate most things, though she was very good at overcomplicating her own emotions to find a way to blame herself for problems. 

“Ok, do we have any idea what the password is?” Tony shook his head. 

“No. Just how long it is. Fuck it’s thirty-eight characters!” Tony swore and switched over to his encryption breaker. It refused to recognize the programming. Tony ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck! I swear if I don’t end up killing Spidergirl I’m hiring her ass!” Bruce let out a strained chuckle. The door to the lab opened.

“Tony what’s going on? I just got a call from Rhodey they you’ve got unregistered tech flying low over the city, again.” Tony explained the situation as he began to jot down ideas on a scrap of paper. He growled as Pepper examined the spiderwebbed programming. 

“There’s no way to tell the password! God damn it!” He threw the pencil he’d been using across the room. Pepper stepped up to his shoulder. Bruce could almost see the gears in the redhead’s mind going a mile a minute. 

“With great power comes great responsibility. No spaces.” Tony stared at her. 

“Please tell me you’re not Spidergirl, as much as I would love to see you in spandex.” Pepper shook her head and pushed his hands out of the way and typed it in. There was a moment where Tony held his breath and Bruce and Pepper exchanged looks. In that moment they both knew that the other knew Piper’s secret, and that it might be time for Tony to know the truth. The white lines pulsed for a moment before splintering and disappearing. Files poured into the computer in front of Tony who swore at the sheer amount of information that had been kept hidden by the code Spidergirl had to have implanted in JARVIS. After a minute it stopped and Tony was faced with a video file that began to play. 

It was Piper, still decked out in her glasses. This had to have been from about two years ago. He checked the time and date stamp on the video, confirming his suspicions as his daughter stumbled down a hall he recognized as the one that led from the elevator to her room. She dropped her backpack and kept stumbling her way down the hall. When she reached her room she managed to open the door before she fell and convulsed on the floor, her skin seeming to ripple slightly. She was screaming the audio quality on his security cameras bringing the pain through the speakers in the lab. Tony felt like he was going to be sick as she writhed on the floor. When she finally fell still he had to look hard to see her chest rising and falling. 

He looked up and saw that Pepper had tears rolling down her face and Bruce looked distinctly green around the gills. Tony’s own cheeks were wet with tears. 

“What the hell was that?”


	35. The Rise Of The Goblin

Piper squeezed her eyes closed as the other limb shifted revealing a buzz saw, she still couldn’t move her hands. Norman Osborn was screaming himself hoarse not five feet away and she was about to be slit open by this psychopath her parents had once trusted. Then the wall to their left exploded inwards. Norman whimpered and Doc Oc swore. 

“Fury’s lap dogs! So soon?” Piper managed to turn her head and spotted her team in the hole that Danny and Luke had clearly punched in the wall. A small octobot, like the one that had drawn blood from her, collapsed in front of the team in a shower of sparks. Nova sent a blast of energy at Doc Oc who was blasted back off of her. She groaned in pain and curled in on herself slightly before pulling herself to her knees as Doc Oc screamed and slammed a button on his console. More octobots swarmed into the room. Luke drove his fist into one of them and ripped the ting in half. Ava leapt onto one and tore into it with her claws. Danny snagged one of them by the tentacle and swung it into the control panel. Piper stumbled to her feet and dove forwards placing herself between the still writhing Norman Osborn and the falling debris. He howled in pain as she tried to pull him to his feet. His skin was mottled green and pale grey. She could see the bones under his skin shift as he wailed in pain again. Nova called out to her as she managed to heft Norman Osborn over her shoulder whispering quiet apologies as she went. One of the tentacles grabbed her by her foot and yanked her away form Harry’s dad. He crumpled back to the floor as Octavius threw her into Sam and Ava. The other two caught her and Ava steadied her as Sam went back to blasting the pieces of the lab Octavius was throwing their way.

“Good to see you Spidey, any ideas how to beat this loon?” Piper shook the other girl off. 

“Don’t! He’s distracting you, this isn’t about Doc Oc anymore.” Another pained scream filled the room, this time though it morphed halfway through into a deafening roar that had everyone in the room freezing. Octavius smiled and laughed as Norman Osborn roared again his skin shifting. His forehead shifted backwards, his ears lengthening, two points came down from his chin and his skin darkened to a sickly green. His eyes flooded with yellow. He roared and lunged at Doc Oc. The scientist snatched a miraculously intact remote from inside his jacket with one of his tentacles and slammed the button. The collar around the neck of the thing that had been Norman Osborn lit up with electricity as the five teen heroes backed away from the large green goblin-esque figure. The Goblin pulled at the collar around his neck. 

“Come now Norman I’ve given you everything you ever wanted! I’ve removed every imperfection you ever had, made you stronger. I used your obsession with Spidergirl to turn you into this grotesque! A goblin!” Octavius shut up as the collar cracked and stopped feeding electricity into the hulking figure that managed to yank the collar all the way off. He roared and grabbed Octavius by one of the tentacles and swung him around the room into the five teen heroes sending them flying. Smoke was starting to fill the room from the fire that had sprung up on the broken console. The Goblin roared and Piper dragged Sam to his feet and took off out the nearest exit. The others followed her, none of them saw Octavius make it out the other side, nor did they see the Goblin grab a vial of the Venom symbiote. 

“Why are we running? We should have stayed and finished the fight.” Piper shook her head. 

“We’re not running we’re drawing him out. We need Doctor Connors, or Dad or my Lab, we need the right tools.” She was panting but the ringing in her ears was finally gone and she could completely move her hands again. 

“Why? We can take that thing!” Piper shook her head as they took a left down what looked like a service hallway lined with pipes. 

“That thing is a person! Norman Osborn! He’s Harry’s dad, and my blood did that to him. I have to find a way to fix this.” A roar echoed down the hallway. 

“Sounds like Norman wants to play!” Nova shouted. Powerman, White Tiger and Iron Fist turned to face their opponent only to be blindsided by arcs of electricity. White Tiger and Iron Fist fell to the floor, Powerman slumped to his knees. The large green figure sprinted out of the darkness behind them, it was much faster than any of them would have predicted. It smashed a fist at Powerman who blocked the first strike but the still gloved hand of the Goblin snatched his arm and Piper heard a sickening crunch as the Goblin bent it backwards until the bone snapped. Luke screamed. 

“No!” Danny shouted leaping at the Goblin who smacked him into a wall. Ava leapt at the thing but was blasted backwards with a scream of her own as electricity coursed through her. She slumped to the floor not far from Danny. None of them got back up. Piper lunged but Nova was faster. The Goblin dodged his blast and smacked him in mid air he careened off course and smacked into the wall he too slumped to the ground. Piper growled, a sound she hadn’t known she was capable of. Anger surged through her veins bringing strength and determination with it, suppressing all the aches and pains that throbbed through her. 

“Osborn!” The Goblin whirled on her a wickedly sharp smile marring its face. It raised its gloved hand ready to blast her back like it had Ava. She sent a web flying into its eyes. “You sick freak!” 

It fought with the webbing over its eyes as Piper bunched herself and leapt at him, both feet connecting to his jaw sending him stumbling. She didn’t let up though, like she normally would. Instead the anger under her skin had her socking him in the gut, so his jaw was within reach. She roundhouse kicked him sending him past Nova who was beginning to stir. 

“This is for what you did to my team! And to your son!” She punctuated every other word with a blow. The Goblin roared though seemingly more out of annoyance than pain. It finally managed to pull off the webbing over its eyes and grabbed her arm as she lunged for another hit. So instead of punching it again she kicked it in the teeth. It stumbled back and she took her chance. She flipped forwards and slammed both feet into his face, finally he fell. She landed on his chest and brought her fist into his cheek once, twice, three times. 

“I should beat you into a paste!” She screamed it at the barely stirring Goblin. Her hand shook and she unclenched her now bruised fist. “But I’m not going to.” She leapt off of the Goblin as it took another swipe at her. 

“This isn’t your fault, granted a lot of things are, but this isn’t. You don’t have to be this Green Goblin. Let me help you.” The Goblin roared and Piper leapt further down the hallway, she really hoped her team had woken up and was getting out of this tunnel as she continued to leap down it, leading the Goblin further away from her team. 

“Norman! I know you’re in there!” She rushed him using every ounce of strength she had to slam him up against the wall he’d just tired to squish her on. “You’re still human in there! Think of your son Harry! Whatever Doc Oc did to you, it doesn’t change the fact that you love your son.” Her voice was strained with the effort of holding him back. She was running out of time. Her muscles were trembling and she knew the adrenaline that had carried her this far was rapidly dwindling. For one single sparkling moment she thought she’d reached him as his struggles lessened. 

“Come on Norman.” Then the goblin roared in her face, good lord he needed a mint. 

“Osborn! No more!” Then it slammed its forehead into the bridge of her nose and she felt it shatter, blood pouring forth. It was only then that she noticed that she’d never bothered to pull her mask back down to where it belonged as blood poured freely over her lips. It threw her back into the concrete wall, leaving behind a sizable crater. She spat blood as it continued to flow from her nose. She just managed to catch the gloved hand before it would have wrapped around her head. 

“Only Goblin!”


	36. Dissolution

Piper dug her heels in as she was forced to catch the Goblins other hand. She grunted in effort as she felt the concrete under her feet crack slightly. She growled again, the primal noise rising from her throat. 

“Fine! If I have to take you out to save them I will.” The metal of the glove crumpled under her fingers as she twisted it up into its owners face, the blast he’d been planning on using on her blasting him instead. She hadn’t expected the force of it which carried the Goblin through the low ceiling of the tunnel. She wished she could say she was surprised to find herself in the lobby of Oscorp, but at this point she didn’t think anything would surprise her. She webbed herself up to where the Goblin was lodged in the large light fixture and punch him hard, sending him crashing back to the ground. He pulled himself up on an elbow and she web slapped him, intending to send him crashing into the wall. But he grabbed webline and surged to his feet swinging the line she was still attached to in a circle. She smashed through several pillars and the building began to creak and shake. The Goblin dropped her and she stayed down. Her ribs were screaming at her, her vision was rapidly blurring, the ringing in her ears was back. She started to pull herself up and a large hand wrapped around her middle. She was tossed like she weighed no more than a sack of flour up into the hanging sculpture’s supports. She stuck for just a moment and then she felt her consciousness waver and she fell, nearly four stores back to the floor. For a moment her vision blackened and she was convinced that this was the end. Then the pressure of a foot on her back brought her back to reality. Her spider sense hadn’t stopped screaming at her since she’d woken up in the lab. 

“Spider. Goblin. Same blood. Spider. Goblin. Family.” She groaned as she heard something splinter above her. The pressure of the foot released and she heard a window somewhere nearby shatter. 

“I really don’t see the resemblance.” She groaned as she pulled herself up. Smoke filled her lungs as she tried to stand. The light fixture that the Goblin had shattered had caught fire. She glanced up as she felt small rocks rain down. She was just in time to roll out of the way as the sculpture came crashing down right where she’d been laying. Her cough was harsh and painful against her ribs as she stumbled back to her feet, trying to locate an exit. 

 

Coulson steadied his weapon on the barricade the other SHEILD agents had been quick to erect. A small group of medics had already swarmed around the team who had made their way out of a hidden entrance that was now pouring smoke, Spidey wasn’t with them. Something ahead of them moved and Coulson motioned for the other agents to hold fire. The figure was mostly obscured by the smoke that was pouring out of Oscorp. He squinted as it drew closer. Then he spotted the telltale flash of red and blue and leapt over the barrier racing forwards. He was just in time to catch her as she fell forwards. 

She was a mess. Her costume burned in several places two holes rapidly spreading, one at her shoulder, one at the center of her spine. The skin he could see beyond her suit was mottled purple. The part of her face that was visible was covered in blood, staining her mouth and chin red. Her nose was swollen nearly beyond recognition, clearly broken and the whites of her mask were barely visible, the eyes behind them shut. She was still breathing as Coulson holstered his gun one handed and scooped her up. He ran as fast as he could back to the barrier which one of the agents moved out of his way as he raced onto the medical transport. He barely heard Harry Osborn shouting for his father as the doors closed and the ship took off back to the Helicarier. 

Harry had ended up eating alone, he used his dads card to pay for it. Served him right for bailing on a dinner he’d planned. He decided to walk back to Oscorp, see what his dad was up to, and let him know that Piper had had to bail on the dinner too. At least she’d had a legitimate reason. He ran a hand through his hair and his nose twitched at the smell of smoke. He glanced up and felt his knees wobble as he spotted the plume of smoke rising from Oscorp, he was astounded that he’d missed it. He raced through the crowd that was forming, shoving people out of his way and calling out for his dad, hoping he’d see him in the crowd. Instead all he saw was a medical SHEILD transport taking off and a line of SHEILD agents between him and the building. 

The Goblin stared down at the scene in front of him, yellow eyes fixed on the brown haired figure being held back by two SHEILD agents. His mouth pulled back in a smile as he pulled the vial he’d taken from the lab out of one of the compartments on his suit. He looked between the writhing black sludge and the boy below and felt his chest rumble with laughter. 

“Son.” 

 

Piper woke up to the feel of someone touching her face. She leapt to the ceiling, hearing the sound of tearing plastic and the gasps of several people. She looked down, realizing she wasn’t wearing her mask. There were three medics surrounding the bed she had clearly been laying in. Torn IV lines dripped their fluids onto the floor, the needles still in her bare arms. The medics stepped back as she flipped to the bed. Her ribs twinged but didn’t scream at her like they had been before. One of the medics tried to step forwards but she stepped back. They backed up and a voice from the doorway spoke. 

“They are just trying to help.” Piper ignored Coulson and turned to the small mirror one of the technitions had placed on their tray of tools. Deftly she snapped her nose back into place and ignoring the flinches from the med techs pulled the needles from her veins. 

“Where’s my top?” Her ribs were wrapped, to support them but other than that and her grey sports bra she wasn’t wearing any of her upper costume. Coulson nodded to the table at the end of the bed and motioned the techs out of the room. They left and Piper pulled on her top and gloves, which still had her webshooters attached. She ignored the shiny new watch that sat below it and frowned. Her mask wasn’t here, neither was her phone which had been in an insulated pocket on her belt. 

“Where’s my mask?” Coulson motioned for her to follow him. She did so reluctantly and he led her into the main medical wing where the others were getting checked over. She managed to hide her sigh of relief. She would give away the truth if she reacted, she had to do what she was planning. Coulson spoke as Sam pulled her into a hug she didn’t return and handed her back her mask. 

“We’re tracking the Goblin but so far no luck.” Piper stared down at her mask in her hands and spoke. 

“I should have seen it coming. I let my feelings for Harry cloud my judgement. Worse I let the Goblin get away.” She shook off Sam’s hand on her shoulder. “Let’s face it, Fury tried to make me the Ultimate Spidergirl, all I am is the Ultimate Fuck Up.” She stepped away from Sam as he tried to speak. Coulson stepped in front of her as she made for the door. 

“We’ll find the Goblin Spidergirl.” She snorted at him, letting her frustration with the whole situation take over her voice. 

“We? You don’t get it Coulson. There is no we.” The rest of the team froze staring at her. “It’s my DNA, my best friends dad, my problem. I was a solo act, but against my better judgement I joined this team and now everyone I care about is in danger.” She couldn’t look at any of them. “No one else gets hurt because of me! No one.” She spotted her phone by Ava’s bed and snatched it up as she stepped around Coulson. The door in front of her slid open. She still didn’t turn. She couldn’t look at them, not when she knew that she was breaking their hearts, some more than most. 

“I’m gonna take down the Goblin. And I’m gonna do it alone.” She stepped out of the room pulling on her mask as she did. She was halfway home when she realized her phone had been buzzing since she picked it up. She paused on top of one of the skyscrapers and checked it. Her heart sank as she spotted thirteen missed calls from her dad. Then she took note of the message that was flashing across the screen. 

WEB PROTOCOL BREACHED. 

Her heart plummeted all the way to the ground, that message could mean only one thing. He knew her secret. 

 

Tony was still working his way though the two years worth of information that had been dumped on him when he’d broken her protocol, trying to comprehend what was being set in front of him. She couldn’t be. She just couldn’t be. 

‘Sir, I have detected movement in Miss Parker’s main lab.’ Tony didn’t even bother to thank JARVIS as he took off down the hall. He slammed his way into the lab and flicked on the light switch. A red and blue figure froze as she dug through one of the cabinets. She snatched something out of the drawer and flipped out of the still open window before Tony could do or say anything. He raced to the window and stared after her as she swung across the city. 

 

Piper couldn’t bring herself to face her father. The look in his eyes when he’d seen her in full costume in her lab grabbing a handful of web cartridges had been somewhere between sheer shock and betrayal. She felt tears soak her mask as she swung to her destination. She landed on the wall outside Harry’s room in the penthouse he lived in. He was inside, sobbing on his bed a picture of him and his father in his hands. She had to make sure the Goblin didn’t hurt him. It was all she could think of to do. She desperately wanted to open the window and go comfort him but Spidergirl wouldn’t be welcome, that much she knew. So instead she wove a web hammock in the corner of the detailed decorations on the exterior wall and listened as he cried himself to sleep. She wasn’t far behind him.


	37. Runaway

Piper woke to a sharp bleeping nearby. She thought it was her alarm and for a moment. She reached out and her hand met an unfamiliar wall. She started awake and looked around. She was still in her hammock outside the Osborn residence. Fuck. That meant that last night hadn’t been a dream after all. It had all been a nightmarish reality. She held back a sob as she remembered her fathers, Tony’s face as he’d caught her in her lab. She pulled herself out of her hammock, her ribs still sore. She could feel the blood starting to flake on her face, they hadn’t had a chance to clean her face back at SHEILD, she hadn’t let them. 

She crawled along the wall, peeking inside the room at its sole occupant, still dead to the world even through the beeping of his alarm. She sighed and waited for him to wake up. She wasn’t going to leave him alone. 

 

Sam sat in his room. He hadn’t gotten more than an hour or two of sleep. None of the team had. Ava had slept in Danny’s room, not exactly abiding by the rules but none of them really cared at the moment. It was too much. First Fury, now Piper had abandoned them. They had been confined to quarters after she’d left. There was a knock at the door. Sam stood up, he was still in his costume, he had only taken off his helmet last night. He stepped over to his door and scrubbed at his face for a minute before standing up a bit straighter and opening the door. 

He’d been expecting Coulson, or worse someone in the new higher ups. But instead he found Danny, Ava and Luke at his door. They hurried in closing the door behind them. Sam raised an eyebrow at them. Luke spoke first. 

“We’re going after her, you in or out?” Sam stared at him.

“We cant go after her, we’ve been confined to quarters. We aren’t even supposed to leave our rooms.” Luke nodded. 

“But we’re doing it anyway.” Danny stepped forwards. 

“We know you are hurting most of all of us but hear us out. We think there’s more going on than we can see.” Sam sat down on the bed and nodded slightly. 

“Ok tell me, tell me there’s a reason for her walking out on us now. Now. After Fury died. After everything that has happened, she left! I thought… I thought we had something! I thought we had a team… I thought…” Ava sat down next to him. 

“You thought that you and her were close. I think you are. I think she cares about all of us, I think that’s why she left.” Ava said as she rubbed his shoulder. Danny paced in front of him. 

“She wasn’t acting like herself. Short sentences, too short. The Spider’s best weapon is speech. We all know that, she proved it on Asguard. But she did not use it.” Sam nodded. Luke put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. 

“Long draw out explanations later. We think she knows something we don’t. We also know she’s in trouble. The Goblin is out there and she never finished getting looked over by medical. And knowing her she’s gonna go after him anyway. Family looks after family, no matter what the higher ups say.” Sam looked up and nodded. 

“You’re right. Lets go.” 

 

Tony stared at the table in front of him. He hadn’t been able to leave her lab after he’d seen her run from him. That was a sight he’d hoped he’d never see, his daughter running from him. He remembered being younger and having to run from Howard, especially after he had been on one of his extended drinking binges. So he had stayed in her lab. He’d just stared out the window after her for moment but he hadn’t done it long, instead turning to the drawer she’d left open. It was filled with small cartridges of what looked like white fluid. Webs, it had to be. Well that was a slight relief, at least she wasn’t shooting webs out of her arms like he’d always suspected Spidergirl of doing. He set down the cartridge and turned to the rest of the lab. 

He hadn’t been in here in years. Not since he’d given it to her. Her face had lit up like a Christmas tree when she’d seen it. It had seen quite a bit of use too. He opened the drawer under the web cartridges and found it too full of the same. So was the next one. Each set was different though, as if they each fit into something different. A short search came up with what the cartridges seemed to fit into. Two different sets of web-shooters. One of them looked like it rested at the pulse point of the wrist. It was small about the size of a watch face, something that could easily be slipped into a pocket on the go. The other looked like it had been built around a bracelet. They were sectioned off into seven pieces, each of which looked like it could hold a single cartage from the middle drawer. He picked one up and the it whirled in his hand. It looked like each section could be spun into place with the simple flick of the wrist or finger. It was elegant and could have been easily been mistaken for a bracelet if worn in public. A pressure pad had extended from the contraption when he’d spun it. It would most likely rest in the center of the palm. 

He set it back down on the table and spotted something shining in the trash can. He stepped over to it and fished out a lens. It was white and broken. He recognized it. He’d seen her wearing it what felt like years ago. He sat down hard on the floor. It was then he caught a glimpse of a corner of fabric in one of the lower drawers near him. He pulled it out and stared at the costume in his hands.

 

Pepper went looking for Tony when the sun rose. She found him in Pipers lab, which looked a bit like a hurricane had hit it. Tony was standing in front of one of her work tables several slightly varied versions of the Spidergirl costume were laid out on the table. He looked up at her, there were tears in his eyes. 

“Spandex. She’s been fighting crime in spandex. She could have died.” A tear slipped down his face. 

“Nearly two years and she’s been running around in spandex, getting shot at, stabbed. Electrocuted. I could have lost her so often Pepper.” Pepper stepped up to him and let him burry his head in her shoulder. She rubbed his hair. 

“I have to make something. Something better, she can’t keep running around in spandex. She’s gonna get hurt.” Pepper smiled slightly as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“Tony, you need sleep.” He shook his head.

“No! I need to get started. I have to figure out how this happened.” Pepper pulled back slightly. 

“I think we’d all like to know that. But you cant do this like. You and her need to sit down and talk. She’ll come home.” Tony shook his head. 

“She ran away. She left. I think she’s afraid of me. I don’t want her to be afraid of me.” Pepper was going to ground Piper’s ass when she got back. 

“I don’t think she’s afraid of you. I think she’s afraid of what you will think, or what you would do when you found out. But I’m not.” Tony looked up at her, confused. 

“Your first thought wasn’t that she needed to stop, it was that you needed to help her, to protect her.” She kissed the top of his head, she loved that he was shorter than her. “You’re a good father Tony. She’s just a scared teen, she’ll come around.” Tony nodded into her shoulder. 

“What would I do without you Pepper?” Pepper kissed him on the top of his head again.


	38. Aware

Piper followed Harry to school, they were both gonna be late. Harry had slept well through his alarm, his limo driver was breaking several traffic laws to try and get them there on time. She was still in costume. She wasn’t planning on actually going to school today. Once Harry was safe in the SHEILD enforced walls of the building she was going Goblin hunting. Well relatively safe she supposed. She still didn’t trust SHEILD, but nothing had happened since she’d received the message yesterday. But she trusted Natasha like she trusted no one else, the woman had never lied to her, never minced words, never sugar coated. It had to have been her who had sent the message. If Auntie Tasha thought SHEILD was rotten she wasn’t going to trust it. But she had no where else that Harry would be even relatively safe. 

She couldn’t take him to Stark Tower, not when her father knew the truth. She kept looking over her shoulder, half expecting to see the iron man armor behind her, chasing her down. She glanced down at the newspapers in the stand she was hiding behind as the Osborn Limo pulled to a stop at a red light. She winced at the headlines. 

GREEN GOBLIN RUNS RAMPANT AT OSCORP! NORMAN OSBORN MISSING!

A blurry picture of the Green Goblin accompanied the article. The limo took back off and Spidergirl swung after it. They arrived at Midtown High well after the tardy bell and Harry began to grab his bag. Eddie had a free period first and was out on the lawn reading a book. He waved at Harry and frowned as he spotted Piper, still in full costume, clinging to the underside of the bridge. Harry reached for the door handle when Piper’s spider sense went ballistic. The Goblin dropped from the top of a nearby building and smashed into the front of the car ripping the engine free one handed. He smacked the car and it spun, he stopped it one handed and dug a hand into the door, ready to rip it from its hinges. Piper swung in and kicked him with all her strength, sending him stumbling away from the inoperable limo. Eddie ran forwards and yanked open the other door. He grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him out of the Limo as the Goblin roared in frustration. 

“What is that thing?” Eddie shook his head as Piper kicked the goblin again sending him further away from the two boys. The hulking figure snatched up the discarded engine and threw it at the two teens. Spidergirl lunged and tackled them to the ground, the engine sailing over their heads. The Goblin grabbed her by her foot and made to throw her. A blast of white light startled him into dropping her back to the pavement. She swept her legs into his knocking him off his feet. 

“I had that Nova.” The hero floated into view. 

“Sure you did web head.” He glared at her from under his helmet, she couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Her spidey sense went crazy and she shoved Harry and Eddie out of the way as a fist came down where her head had just been. Powerman, one arm in a cast and sling, dropped down from the bridge and raced forwards placing himself between the Goblin and his quarry. Iron Fist soon joined them, followed closely by White Tiger. Piper took her chance to grab both boys by the hand and drag them to relative safety under the bridge. She paused to catch her breath, her ribs weren’t as healed as she’d thought she realized as they gave a particularly painful twinge. Eddie reached forwards and put his hand on her shoulder. 

“You ok Spidergirl?” He knew she wasn’t, even with the mask on he could read Piper like a book. There were dark stains on her mask, he couldn’t tell if it was blood, sweat or tears. The top of her costume was torn, once at the shoulder, where pale slightly bruised skin was making itself know, and once at the exact center of her spine where he could see what looked like bandages. She nodded. Harry stepped forwards. 

“What is that thing?” Spidey sighed glancing over at where her team, were they hers anymore she didn’t honestly know, had engaged the Goblin. 

“Harry I really hate to be the bearer of bad news but that thing is your father.” Harry and Eddie stared at her. Harry shook his head.

“That cant be. My dad isn’t a freak! He’s normal.” Piper pulled the boys away from the bridge as her spidey sense went off again and the remains of the limo came sailing their way. She ushered them away from the fight, into the front lawn of the school. 

“Yeah at this point I’m pretty sure you can say goodbye to normal.” Harry looked devastated. Piper glanced over at the team again, they were doing alright corralling the Goblin, keeping him on the street. The bell behind them was shrill as it cut through the sound of the fight. Piper kept herself between them and the Goblin. 

“Hey sounds like someone called a half day.” Harry looked at her incredulously. 

“Do you always make jokes when other peoples lives are falling apart?” She shrugged slightly. 

“Force of habit at this point.” The intercom crackled to life and Piper recognized Agent Coulson’s voice. 

“This is not a drill all students and staff report to the gymnasium until further notified. I repeat all students and staff report to the gymnasium until otherwise instructed.” She nearly let out a sigh but caught herself. She still didn’t know if Coulson was on her side or not. But the Gym had more protection than any other room in the school.

“What are you gonna do? If that really is my dad you can’t just attack him. He needs help.” Piper nodded. 

“Believe me I know. And he will get the best help we can get him, I promise you that. He was injected with a toxic compound by a wackjob employee. As far as I can tell it mutated his DNA, I have some experience in that. But he’s not himself right now. He’s a mindless creature right now. But I promise you I’m going to do everything I can to help him.” Harry shook his head and let Eddie pull him into a side hug. He missed the look that passed between the two. Eddie was confused and worried about both of his friends, he could practiacally feel the guilt rolling off of Piper there was more to the story than that, he could tell. But they didn’t have time to get into it right now. Not in front of Harry.

“This is impossible.” Piper shook her head. 

“Impossible? Three words. You. Were. Venom.” Harry flinched slightly, Eddie glancing at Piper reproachfully. She shook her head. 

“You two go, get to the gym with the others.” A voice stopped them as they turned to head that way. 

“No, Mr. Osborn needs to come with us.” It was Agent Coulson, decked out in SHEILD SWAT gear, complete with helmet and visor that covered his face. 

“SHEILD? It’s that serious?” Piper leapt over them tossing a web to her left, catching Iron Fist before he could slam into the school wall and plummet two stories. 

“Yes, it’s that serious. Go with Agent C Harry. Eddie you head to the Gym. No arguments.” She made to rejoin the fight but Harry grabbed her arm. 

“If that really is my dad, promise me you wont hurt him.” Piper laid her gloved hand on his shoulder.

“Harry I promise I… Look out!” She shoved him to the ground as the Goblin smacked Nova out of the air sending him hurtling towards them. Nova slammed into Spidey and the two of them smacked into the ground. Piper felt her nose, which wasn’t fully healed either, bones and cartilage took longer to knit back together than muscular damage, start to bleed again. 

Nova took back off and Piper swung after him between Harry and Coulson. 

“You’re not supposed to be here Nova.” Nova practically growled at her as she slapped a web across the Goblin’s eyes letting Iron Fist and Powerman get a few free hits in while he fought with it. 

“Oh you’re welcome for saving your ass, again!” She tensed, normally she would shoot back a comment about his less than stellar leadership skills but she couldn’t. She couldn’t blame them for being angry with her. Hell if she was them she’d be pissed. Iron Fist dodged backwards and landed near her. 

“Two are stronger than one Spider.” Luke nodded yanking up a fire hydrant one handed. Water rained.

“And three is even better! This is for breaking my arm Goblin!” He flung the hydrant into the Goblins face. He stumbled and turned back to the group a large grin on his face. Piper leapt at him and slammed her fist into his face. He toppled and groaned. 

“I told you I would handle this, you didn’t listen.” White Tiger snorted. 

“Yeah we picked that little habit up from this Spider we know. She’s really bad at listening to orders too. And she seems to think that everything rests on her shoulders.” Danny nodded at Ava’s words. 

“We know there is something you are not telling us Spider. You can not carry the weight of the world alone.” Nova landed next to Danny. 

“Yeah plus everything at SHEILD’s gone off kilter since Fury.” Piper’s eyes narrowed. White Tiger nodded. 

“But they’re the best we’ve got right now.” She tapped her communicator. “White Tiger to Exfil team 1. Mean Green is down. Awaiting extraction at Midtown High.” Piper shook her head. 

“I told you guys to stay out of it.” Luke rolled his eyes behind his shades. 

“Yeah, yeah yeah. You don’t want us getting hurt for you, but see we decided that’s not really your call.” Danny nodded. 

“For someone as aware of the world around you as you are you are…” He left off his sentence seemingly trying to think of the right word. Nova supplied it. 

“Emotionally constipated.” White Tiger stepped forwards, between Nova and Spidey. 

“Look whatever happened between you two dorks we’re still a team. We know you care, you’re shit at hiding it. You need to tell us what’s going on.” Piper stared at her feet for a moment. 

“I…” She was moments away from spilling everything. That her father had discovered her secret identity, that the Goblin and Venom had both technically been her fault, and that she suspected that SHEILD was just as rotten as Oscorp when her spider sense went off like a klaxon in her brain. 

“Move!” She shouted leaping out of the puddle water the broken hydrant had caused. The others were a second too late though and electricity arced around the puddle and through them, pulling screams from each of them. They dropped like rocks and Piper landed between them and the Goblin. 

“Nobody hurts them!” She roared it at the goblin and fired a web at his forehead, it struck and a low creepy chuckle sounded from his lips. She lunged at him and, using the soaked pavement to her advantage, dove between his legs pulling the web hard, forcing him to faceplant to the pavement. She emptied two cartridges of webbing, weaving them together to try and hold him down. She flicked the empty cartridges aside, clicking new ones into place as she leapt over the struggling pile of webbing. Her team was pulling themselves to their feet. 

“That’s not gonna hold him long. We need to get Harry out of here now.” They nodded and raced into the school building.


	39. Captain's Orders

The team paused for a breather in the foyer of the school. Piper was incredulous when she spotted Harry still at the school. He glared at her. 

“I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt him.” She pulled up her mask over her nose and mouth to spit blood. Her nose hadn’t stopped bleeding, her mask had been trapping the blood against her mouth, she couldn’t breathe with it all the way down right now. A roar shook the building. 

“Trust me, that’s not an ‘I’m hurt’ kind of roar.” She spat blood again. One of her teeth had been knocked loose by the fall to the ground. She honestly wasn’t sure if that was gonna be fixable. Agent Coulson made to pull Harry down the hall. Harry held his ground. Spidergirl stepped forwards. 

“Look Harry, we need to get you out of here. I don’t know why but he’s fixated on you. Please trust me.” Harry paused as the reinforced doors shook. Then he nodded. Piper wove a small blindfold out of webbing and Harry stepped back slightly. 

“I promise none of us are gonna hurt you.” Harry nodded and let himself be blindfolded. Piper let the webbing slip over his ears too, to muffle the sounds around him. He was probably traumatized as it was, no need to make it worse. The wall gave way as she picked him up over her shoulder. Her ribs protested slightly but she ignored them taking off down the hall. She spotted Eddie heading to the gym and paused. Nova slammed into the wall next to her. 

“Go!” He shouted. Eddie shot her a look, one that told her he would find her later to ask what was really going on, then he took off towards the gym. Piper raced in the other direction keeping Harry close as she kicked open the door to the detention room. She sat down hard, keeping Harry in her lap. He wrapped a hand in her costume. The others raced into the room including Coulson who threw what turned out to be a kind of sticky grenade at the door. It was coated with a plastic substance that held as the Goblin beat on it. He quickly sat down at the desk in front of the room and flicked the switch to send them all to the Helicarier. 

Piper sighed as they stepped onto the bridge. She set Harry back on his feet as Coulson stepped up to the controls. 

“Alright Harry you’re safe. For now.” She removed the blindfold and Harry blinked at the light pouring in from the large window. He stared as the Helicarier took off out of the water. 

“Where am I?” Piper sighed. 

“You’re on the SHEILD Helicarier.” Harry looked like he was about to speak when the speakers crackled to life. 

“Attention all SHIELD agents. This is Steve Rodgers.” Everyone in the room froze. Piper darted to one of the control panels and locked onto the signal.

“This is being broadcast over all SHEILD frequencies from the Triskelion.” She shut up as one of her favorite uncles continued to speak. 

“You’ve heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it’s time you know the truth.” The whole Helicarier seemed to be holding its breath. 

“SHEILD is not what we thought it was. It’s been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader. The STRIKE and INSIGHT crew are Hydra as well.” Eyes flicked around the deck, several hands had dropped to guns. 

“I don’t know how many more. I know they’re in the building. They could be standing right next to you.” Everyone looked around at each other at that.

“They almost have what they want. Absolute control. They shot Nick Fury.” Piper saw the team all tense at that, every one of them going into defensive mode in a moment. 

“And it wont end there. If you launch those Helicarier today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone who stands in their way. Unless we stop them.” It didn’t even sound like anyone was breathing as Captain America’s voice echoed around them. 

“I know I’m asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high, always has been. And it’s a price I’m willing to pay. And if I’m the only one so be it. But I’m willing to bet I’m not.” The transmission ended as abruptly as it had begun. Silence echoed through the Helicarier for a moment. No one moved, no one even seemed to breathe. Then Piper spotted one of the agents to her left, she thought his name was Ward. She dove forwards as he aimed a gun at Ava, the closest member of the team to him. 

The gunshot sounded like thunder in the deadly silence. The thump of a body hitting the floor jolted the team out of their shock. Sam fired a shot into Ward’s chest sending him smashing into a panel behind him as Ava stared down at Piper who was now laying prone on the floor a tear in her side pouring blood. The whole control room devolved into chaos as Luke tackled Harry to the ground and out of the line of fire. Ava dropped to her knees, her white costume splattered with red. She was still breathing, and conscious much to their relief. Agent Coulson was ducked down behind the main console with a few others trying to pick out which was Hydra and which was SHEILD. It wasn’t a fight that looked like it was going to be won anytime soon. 

Piper’s eyes snapped open as her spidey sense overwhelmed the pain from the bullet still in her side. She could feel it lodged just above her hip. She managed to croak out a single word above the noise of gunshots and laser fire. 

“Move!” This time the others listened to her and dove out of the way, bringing Harry with them as they rushed out of the way of a SHEILD jet that smashed into the control room. Screams filled the air and Piper rolled out of the way of a large metal strut that crumpled from the roof. Agent Coulson raced over to her and gently as possible pulled her to her feet. He dragged her back away from the ship that had just crashed into the control room as the pilots dome opened and the Goblin leapt out of it a cackling laugh on his lips. He tilted his head at the state of the hero.

“It looks like someone’s done me the courtesy of taking care of my little bug problem for me.” Everyone stared at him as Coulson felt Spidey shift in his grip aiming her web shooters at her injury. She wove together a few webs, stemming the bleeding. It wouldn’t hold for long but it would hopefully hold long enough. Red lights were going off as a klaxon sounded through the Helicarier, ordering immediate evacuation. Nova was the first to recover from his shock. 

“Wait you can talk! Since when!” The Goblin laughed as Piper pulled herself off of Coulson’s shoulder only wobbling slightly. The leg of her costume was dyed a much darker color but Piper ignored the blood as she squared up, ready to fight the Goblin. Coulson aimed his gun.

 

“Pretty impressive from someone who could barely string two words together last night.” Piper said, stepping slightly to the side so she was between him and the others. Luke still had a hand on Harry’s shoulder. The smile the Goblin shot at her was a deadly thing. 

“I evolved.” Piper stepped forwards slightly so her uninjured side was closer to him than the one that had been torn open.

“Then you’re smart enough to know we can get you help. A cure. Let us help you Norman.” The Goblin laughed, his focus so trained on Spidergirl that he missed Coulson inching towards one of the few undamaged panels near them. 

“Help me? Help me go back? Back to being weak, small. A mere mortal jealous of Spidergirl! A cure! I am cured! And soon you will be too Harry!” He smiled and Piper took a step forwards keeping her injured side away from him as much as was possible. 

“Dad you need to listen to them. Please, you’re not thinking straight. Your minds been affected by the poison.” The goblin laughed as Luke and Danny pulled Harry back. 

“Is that really the lie Spidergirl fed you?” Harry looked between the bleeding hero and the thing that had been is father. 

“What is he talking about?” The Goblin answered for her. 

“She didn’t tell you that the so called poison has her DNA all over it. She didn’t tell you that Venom has her DNA all over it. There’s a lot this little hero hasn’t told you.” Harry went pale. 

“Is that true?” Piper ground her teeth together. The only reason she was still on her feet was the anger burning through her, staving off pain and fear and even blood loss. 

“Is it true that a man your father hired to dissect me stole a sample of my DNA? Yes. Is it also true that that same employee of your fathers used that DNA sample to create both Venom and the Goblin formula? Yes. Does that make all this my fault? Probably! Did someone tell me that SHEILD was compromised all of yesterday so I walked out to try and protect the people I care about? Yes. Coulson, now would be good!” A hand slapped down onto the console and an energy barrier popped up. The Goblin roared. The others stared at her.

“What the hell Spidey?!” She ignored the question, instead reinforcing the webbing around her injury which was now stained red. 

“We don’t have time for this. The controls of the Helicarier are shot. The evac has already started. White Tiger, get Osborn out of here. Now!” She nodded and grabbed a stunned Harry by the arm. She dragged him out of the room as the others turned back to the shield. It had been quiet for a moment. She nodded to Coulson who shut the shield off. They all tensed ready for a fight. But there was nothing there. Piper took off, following the path of destruction towards the Lab level of the Helicarier.


	40. Under Siege

Tony woke with a start, jolting up on the small couch that lived in the corner of Piper’s main lab. Every alarm in the building was going off. 

“JARVIS!?” The AI spoke above the noise. 

‘Security has been breached. The SHEILD Helicarier has lost power just off shore. There’s more sir.’ Tony had long ago tapped the SHEILD systems, but he’d never really bothered to dig deep. JARVIS played him the live feed from the deck of the Helicarier. Steve’s voice reverberated around him. Suddenly almost everything made sense. SHEILD was Hydra. He started off the couch as one of the SHEILD agents on the deck pulled a gun and his daughter, still in her spandex Spidergirl costume, dove in front of her friend. Blood sprayed and Tony’s heart dropped. Then there was a mighty crash from the footage and the camera cut out. Tony swore leaping to his feet. 

“Armor! Now!” He didn’t care which one but it was lucky he’d called it when he did. A figure dodged around the corner and took a shot at him as the helmet closed over his face. The bullet pinged off the chest plate and he lunged. He smashed the man who was in SHEILD gear into the wall, he didn’t get back up. 

“Get Pepper an armor now! Where’s Bruce?” JARVIS directed him to the main lab. A roar announced that Bruce wasn’t exactly Bruce anymore. Tony stepped into the room letting his faceplate lift as the Hulk tossed one of the fake SHEILD agents through the window. 

“Hey big guy! You wanna smash? Lets go smash these assholes.” The Hulk roared and they ran down the hall in search of Pepper. Tony could only hope that Piper was still alive as he blasted another agent. 

 

Piper skidded into the main lab, adrenaline pumping through the blood that wasn’t bubbling out of the gunshot wound on her side. She spotted a figure half trapped under a slab of metal. 

“Doc Connors!” She raced forwards and with little difficulty tossed aside the slab of metal. The scientist hissed in pain. He was barely conscious which was understandable. His arm hung at an odd angle, completely limp. The bones had been crushed. Piper pulled him to his feet ignoring the tearing in her side as she handed him off to Coulson. 

“He’s not gone.” The doctor managed before finally passing out entirely. A cackling laugh sounded from their left and a wall was blasted apart revealing the Goblin in a new pair of gloves, on board a glider. 

“I must say Connors, you do make lovely toys. These new gloves fit like gloves.” He laughed loudly at his own joke. 

“Get him out of here!” Coulson nodded and dragged the unconscious scientist out of the lab as Piper dove to the side of a blast of electricity. She growled and lunged, both feet making contact with the Goblin knocking him clean off the glider. 

“I may have been hasty to write you off so quickly. You truly are my greatest creation Spidergirl.” She didn’t care about her side or the sound of tearing webbing as warm blood spilled down her leg staining her suit nearly back. 

“You didn’t make me Osborn! You know who did?” She landed a kick to his face. “My friends!” A punch this time, right to the eye. “My family!” A sucker punch to the gut. “My mentors!” The Goblin went flying into the wall. 

“Impressive, and nary a quip to be heard.” Spidey’s eyes narrowed. 

“That’s because this is no laughing matter.” She slapped two webs to his chest and he dug his feet in. 

“Nova!” Nova blasted him and Piper felt a tug then the lines slackened. The hole in the lab floor was impressive, the sight of her webs dangling out of it was less than pleasing. 

“Well shit.” She flipped backwards as the glider sailed past her out of the hole. 

 

White Tiger wasn’t having much more luck several hallways away. Seven Hydra agents had her and Harry pinned down behind a few crates. She discarded her communicator, it wasn’t much good to her now anyway. She couldn’t believe what was happening but now was no time for panic, she reminded herself as she glanced down at her claws which were coated in the blood of her friend. She swore as the Helicarier gave a jolt. The lights flickered and the floor tilted. Someone had just taken out the engines. She grabbed Harry and raced back the way they had come. They skidded into the mostly destroyed control deck at the same time as the team. Powerman was supporting Spidergirl as blood dripped from her side, was it just Ava’s imagination or was the injury bigger than it had been. Spidey glanced up and spotted them, the half of her face that was visible going even more pale if that was possible. 

“I told you to get him out of here!” White Tiger nodded as Coulson got on the intercom, demanding that everyone evacuate the Helicarier, it was going down and fast. 

“I tried. There are Hydra agents guarding what’s left of the escape pods. We couldn’t get through.” Spidergirl swore and wobbled. She aimed her web shooters at her side and weaved another temporary bandage. Coulson tapped the console.

“Everybody on now, this will get you out.” The team loaded onto the platform. 

“What about you?” Spidey asked as Coulson tapped the controls.

“This isn’t my first Helicarier crash, I’ll be fine kid.” He tapped the control and the panel under them began to sink. Piper’s spider sense went crazy and she dove forwards yanking Harry with her, pulling him out of the way of a blast of electricity and both of them off the platform. It sunk completely and closed over itself before any of the others could do anything. Coulson cocked his gun as the Goblin laughed. 

“Still crawling little bug?” Piper pulled herself off of Harry and dropped into a slightly wobbly defensive stance. Coulson glanced to the side and swore. 

“Brace for impact!” The Helicarier hit the water with a mighty crash and rending of metal. Water poured in as Piper contemplated that this was probably the worst day she’d had in a very long time.


	41. Going Under

Piper’s head broke the water and she coughed hard. The webs at her side weren’t built for underwater use. And she’d only started treading water with Auntie Tasha in the pool at Stark Tower. She pulled herself up onto one of the slanted pieces of floor that weren’t as deep and spotted Harry. He was being held by the front of his shirt by the Goblin. Her heart plummeted. She was slightly dizzy, blood loss finally getting to her she supposed. 

“Dad, please!” The Goblin smiled wide. 

“Don’t worry son this won’t hurt.” Harry screamed as the Venom symbiote crawled over his skin. A hiss replaced his scream and Piper felt tears sting her eyes. 

Harry could feel something different this time. Last time Venom had taken him over he had been wrapped in the stuff, stuck in his own head. But this time Venom’s grip on him was slippery, like it had been coated in oil. It couldn’t seem to get a good grip on his mind. A scream drew his attention away from the symbiote. The goblin had stamped down on Spidergirl’s wrist a sickening crack signaling the snapping of bone and metal. Venom wanted to attack her too. But Harry didn’t. 

He’d heard her, he wasn’t sure what he believed but his father hadn’t wanted him at all. He’d wanted Venom. Harry spotted a broken electrical wire as the symbiote swirled around him again. 

“Harry! You can’t let him win. Don’t let him define you, please!” Venom swirled and swayed then one of the tendrils broke off and wrapped itself around a freed electrical wire. The symbiote screamed and fled from Harry, curling back up into a small pile of sludge in the water that was rapidly rising. Harry was unconscious. 

“Such a disappointment Harry. You’re not worthy to wear this magnificent creature on your worthless hide. I’ll find someone who is.” The goblin leapt onto his glider and used a small sample vacume in one of the gloves to collect the symbiote. Then he returned his attention to the bleeding broken hero floating near Harry. 

“Our dance is far from over Spidergirl.” Then he blasted a hole in the side of the still sinking Helicarier and took off as water rushed in. 

Piper came back to reality as water tried to fill her nose. She struggled. Her wrist and right web shooter were both broken. Then she spotted Harry’s unmoving form sinking below the water and resolve hardened her eyes. She flailed through the water and grabbed Harry shoving him into one of the few escape pods that were still there. She slammed the button and made to swim back to the surface when a trail of bubbles caught her attention. 

Agent Coulson was trapped, one leg pinned under a beam, a few feet further down in the water. Lungs burning she flailed deeper into the water, heaving the beam aside and ignoring the red trail she was leaving in the water. She shoved him into another pod and he motioned for her to come with him but she shook her head. The door closed. 

 

The team watched the sinking Helicarier with bated breath. They’d retrieved Harry from his pod, he seemed alright but was still out like a light. Another pod landed on the beach and opened revealing Agent Coulson, without his helmet. He coughed and Luke helped him out of the pod. Nova was hovering. 

“Where’s Spidey?” Coulson shook is head and pointed back towards the Helicarier which had discouraged two more escape pods. 

“She’s still in there, saving everyone she can.” They stood there for a moment. Danny was the only one who noticed a single figure speed along the skyline into the bay. Then the beach around them shook as the Helicarier exploded. 

Ava screamed, Nova dropped out of the sky. Luke swore, tears making their way out from underneath his glasses. Danny waited, one second, two seconds. 

 

The fight at the Tower had gone much faster than Tony had been expecting and within ten minutes he was on route to the sinking Helicarier. He dove into the bay before the debris field, JARVIS plotting a course for him to his wayward daughter. His heart clenched when he found her. She was sinking rapidly, a cloud of red water billowing from the wound in her side. Her vitals were starting to bottom out. He wrapped his arms around her and blasted back out of the water heading straight for the medical wing of Stark Tower. 

 

Danny spotted the figure and called out to the others, pointing. It was definitely a suit of the Iron Man Armor, and it was carrying someone. Before Coulson could protest they took off into the city, heading for Stark Tower. 

 

Bruce was laying in a pile of debris, trying to catch his breath. Pepper sat near him in one of Tony’s suits looking down at her hands. This whole thing was too much, the whole situation was ridiculous. Hellen Cho, who they were lucky enough was in the city this week was heading to the tower. Bruce figured he should probably put a shirt on and try and make himself presentable but he honestly couldn’t be bothered right now. He needed a nap and maybe something to eat. 

Every thought for his own flew out of his head though as a suit of the Iron Man Armor, the one Tony had taken off in, flew back to the building, in through one of the broken windows and up the elevator shaft. He was carrying a distinctly red and blue figure who wasn’t moving. Bruce swore and pulled himself out of the rubble pile as the elevator stopped at the level, Hellen stepping out of it, a cart behind her full of equipment. He raced into the elevator holding one side of his pants so they wouldn’t fall. 

“JARVIS! Take us to Tony.” Hellen raised an eyebrow at the state of the scientist, she looked a little shaken but not afraid.

“Tony called said he had a patient for me, I assumed he meant one of the Avengers.” Bruce shook his head as the elevator opened and JARVIS flashed the light in front of the first triage room. The two doctors raced in and Hellen nearly let go of her equipment at the sight of the teenager on the bed.

 

She was a mess, her right hand was bent at an awkward angle, bits of metal sticking out of the skin there. Some kind of white fluid was leaking from the destroyed device. There was some blood on her face but the most alarming injury was a long tear from what appeared to be a bullet. 

“Good god, is that Spidergirl?” Tony was shaking too bad to answer. Bruce rushed forwards and pulled her mask off. Tony’s eyes went wide. Any small hope he’d held out that his daughter was just helping Spidergirl was dashed by the sight of short chestnut hair and pale skin. Her eyes were closed. Bruce laid two fingers at her pulse point. 

“Pulse is thready. Dr. Cho! I need you over here I only have one hand.” Tony was shoved out of the way as the two doctors began to work on their patient. Bruce turned to him as Dr. Cho cut off the top of the costume with a pair of medical scissors.

“Tony, you need to leave now.” Tony shook his head but Bruce grabbed his arm as Dr. Cho began to attach monitors to his daughter’s chest. He pulled Tony into the operating theater next door. 

“You cant help her right now.” Bruce snatched a pair of scrubs off the shelf and quickly washed up. “We can. Wait here.” He ran back out of the room to help Dr. Cho. Tony stared at his daughter’s still form through the one way glass. Every second of silence between the beeps on the heartrate monitor seemed to last a lifetime.


	42. Radioactive

Bruce shook his head at Hellen as she began to set up her machine. It was designed to create false tissue that the body would slowly replace with its own, a simple, clean and efficient procedure and utterly useless here. Hellen raised an eyebrow as Bruce went for a drawer in one of the cabinets. 

“We can do this much more easily with this, and there wont even be a scar.” He shook his head.

“We can’t use it on her.” Hellen shook her head at him.

“Why not?” Bruce threaded the needle. 

“For the same reason we can’t use it on me. Her blood is radioactive. It will eat through the synthetic skin, essentially rejecting the implant.” Hellen nodded and grabbed a few blood bags out of the fridge. “Those need to be marked PMPS. If it’s not her blood she’ll reject the transfusion.” Hellen nodded double checking the bags. She strung a few up as Dr. Banner began to clean the wound. He swore. 

“Hellen I need those forceps. The bullet is still in there.” She flinched in sympathy and handed him the tool, taking the needle and thread from him as he began to dig for the bullet. A whimper met her ears and to her horror she turned to find glassy blue eyes open, tears spilling from their depths. Bruce swore as she thrashed, seemingly unable to see her surroundings. The door to the room burst open and a small group of teens he’d only met once or twice burst in. The only girl in their group shook as Piper let out a heart wrenching scream trying to wriggle out of the grip of the two doctors.

“Big guy we need a hand here!” Luke ran forwards, placing both hands on Piper’s arms forcing her to hold still. She was strong, but not as strong as he was. He held her down as Bruce and Dr. Cho strapped her onto the table at her ankles. They couldn’t restrain her wrists, one was broken and the other would be in the way of the bullet wound. 

“You need to keep holding her as still as you can. I need to get this bullet out now.” Dr. Cho flinched, she didn’t do too much work on enhanced, no one specialized in them except at this point probably Bruce himself. 

“Can’t we give her some anesthesia?” Bruce shook his head as he dug for the bullet. 

“Not the regular kind her metabolism will burn through it in minutes. If you go down the hall to you left there’s a supply room. The ones we need are IV bags marked sgHT. But you need to get the metal out of her wrist.” Hellen shook her head.

“We need to stop her pain first.” Bruce shook his head.

“If you don’t start now, she’s gonna heal around them and it’s going to be ten times harder to get at them.” Ava took off down the hall as Nova turned away from the door and slid down the wall his head in his hands. Hellen swore and began to work on her wrist. This was why she hated working on enhanced. Complications like this that made them squirm and sob as they were being helped. It would have been better if she hadn’t woken up. 

 

Tony emptied the contents of his stomach into the nearby trashcan and slumped down the wall as he listened to his daughter sob and scream in the next room. He didn’t hear White Tiger skid into the room holding an arm full of the IV bags Dr. Banner had described. He didn’t see Bruce smile at her and talk her through setting up an IV as he finally managed to pull the bullet out of his niece. It clinked onto the tray of medical equipment. The drip started and slowly but surely her struggles ceased. 

 

Luke let go of her, his hands shaking. Sam didn’t dare peak around the door to see what was going on. Danny helped him to his feet. 

 

Tony listened intently and pulled himself to his feet, shaking from head to toe. He turned back to the mirror and stared at the scene in front of him. Spidergirl’s team was congregated in the doorway of the room, all looking worse for the wear. White Tiger was covered in blood, it speckled her white costume. Powerman had some on his hands which he was trying not to get on anything. Tony shook himself. Bruce was right. There was nothing he could do for his daughter at the moment but maybe there was something he could do for her friends. He quickly swirled water around his mouth to rid it of some of the stench of vomit. Then he stepped out into the hallway. 

 

The whole team jumped as Tony Stark stepped out of the door next to the operating rom where Bruce Banner and a woman they didn’t know were working on Piper. She seemed to be out of immediate danger. 

“JARVIS, keep me updated on her. And call the FBI to come pick up the SHEILD agents who attacked the tower.” The AI complied and Tony ran a hand through his hair. 

“How did you guys even get into the tower?” Sam shrugged. 

“Door was open.” That wasn’t entirely true, they had come in through a window. Which had been broken, by one of the Hydra agents who had clearly invaded the Tower. 

“Don’t. Humor is her thing not yours kid. Truths now. I’d say it’s time since I found out all of yesterday that my daughter is Spidergirl. So, I’m just gonna go ahead out on a limb and take a guess here. Luke Cage.” He pointed at Powerman who flinched. “Ava Ayala.” Ava bowed her head. “Dany Rand, kid CEO of Rand industries.” The others glanced at Danny who bowed slightly to Tony. “And Sam Fucking Alexander, the only boy I have as of yet let Piper go out with.” Sam hunched in on himself. Tony shook his head. 

“Was the date an actual date or like a team?... Nevermind. Right now, I don’t care. Masks off. Now.” The team glanced at each other and Sam reached up and took off his helmet. The other’s followed his example. He shook his head at them. 

“Good god how old are any of you? Fucking Fury, turning kids into his personal hit squad.” Ava shook her head. 

“That’s not what happened.” Tony raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Oh then what happened? Please Miss Ayala, enlighten me as to why Fury turned my daughter into a superhero.” Luke poke up. 

“She’s been a hero longer than us. We’ve only actually been a team for about five months.” The others nodded. Ava spoke up again even though she refused to look at anyone. 

“Fury took us in. Most of us don’t have anywhere else to go.” Tony felt his heart melt, his mind drifting back to an eleven year old girl sitting sniffling in his Malibu kitchen. He sighed, damn his soft side. 

“Yeah well you do now. Showers are down the hall. Get changed out of these outfits and we’ll see about having some food delivered, we’ll talk about what’s gonna happen when Piper wakes up.” The teen heroes stared at him. He made a shooing motion with his hands. 

“Well go on shoo!” Danny nodded and bowed to Tony again and began to drag Sam and Luke down the hall Ava trailing behind them. She kept glancing over her shoulder. Tony caught her wrist. 

“You ok? That’s a lot of blood.” She shook as her eyes filled with tears as the boys rounded the corner. 

“It’s not mine. It’s hers.” She sniffled. Tony pulled her into a hug as she began to sob. “She... She took a bullet for me…” Tony let her cry as he held on. He needed to hold onto someone too. He was tearing up as he rubbed Ava’s back.


	43. Mending What's Broken

The team had gathered in a waiting room near where Piper was laying. They had all changed out of their costumes. Sam was wearing sweats he suspected belonged to Tony himself, Luke was in Captain America’s spare sparing clothes. Ava was in something that looked like it might belong to Piper. Danny was in a pair of purple sweats and a t-shirt covered in arrows. They waited. It was a long wait. 

 

Tony had gone back to the observation room after making sure that her team was settled as they could be. He was so busy staring at his daughter’s face that he didn’t notice Bruce step into the room. Hellen pulled a curtain over the window. Tony turned to his friend. 

“How is she?” Bruce smiled. 

“She’s gonna be fine Tony. She had a broken nose that it looks like she set herself. So it came out just a touch crooked, but it’s mostly healed and would be more painful to fix anyway. A few broken ribs. Those are well on their way to healing. The gunshot wound is gonna take longer it looks like she kept fighting after she got it. It tore but she’ll be alright. It’ll be a hell of a scar though. And her wrist is broken in four places. That’s gonna take a few days to heal.” Tony nodded. He didn’t say anything for a moment. It was clear that Bruce had already known about her powers. He knew too much about her specialized medical needs to not know. 

“Can I see her?” Bruce nodded. 

“In a minute. Hellen is changing her into something more comfortable.” Tony nodded and the two men waited until Hellen pulled the curtain back open. Tony headed in as Hellen headed out. 

Piper was asleep, several IV’s in her arms. The anesthesia had been removed in favor of the juiced up painkillers Bruce, Steve and Thor favored. He sat down hard in the chair and stared at his daughter for a moment. She was in an Iron Man t shirt and blue pajama bottoms. He sniffled and shook himself as he spotted the splint on her wrist. He shook his head. He could have protected her from this, he should have. He heard a gasp and his eyes shot up, meeting bright blue. It was much more clear than it had been before when she’d been screaming on the table. He tasted bile at the thought. She blinked at him and her eyes filled with tears. 

“Pipes! Are you in pain? Do I need to call Bruce back?” The tears slipped down her cheek as she blinked at him.

“You… you’re not mad?” Tony stared at her for a moment before he shook his head. 

“Piper… Yes. Yes I’m mad at you. I’m mad that you didn’t tell me when your DNA was forcibly altered by god knows what! I’m mad that you hid your powers from me, even though they affected your health, even if it was for the better. I’m unbelievably upset that you decided to go out and fight crime in motherfucking spandex.” Tears were streaming down both their faces now. Her voice was tiny as she spoke. 

“What are you going to do?” She sounded so small, so scared. Tony shook his head, she should never sound like that. 

“Well when you’re medically clear your ass is grounded, for the rest of the school year. If not longer. No Spidey.” Piper sat up quickly. 

“You can’t! You can’t s..stop me being Spidergirl! She’s part of me, just like Iron Man is part of you. I won’t stop.” Tony gently slapped his hand over her mouth. 

“Let me finish. No Spidey till you’re healed.” Piper flopped back her eyes going wide. “And you and I are going to go to my lab as soon as you can get safely back to your feet and do a complete overhaul of your costume. Because seriously spandex!” Piper laughed and lunged forwards wrapping her arms around her father. 

“You’re never allowed to scare me like that again Piper.” He muttered into her hair. She nodded into his chest. “It’s ok to call for help.” She nodded again. Then she pulled back. 

“Oh fuck, the team!” She made to get up but he motioned for her to stay. He turned to the door. 

“JARVIS please direct the delinquents here please.” Minutes later the team, sans costumes stumbled in and crowded around the bed. It was silent for a moment. 

“I’m sorry. I should have told you something was wrong with SHEILD, I shouldn’t have run off without letting any of you know. I was trying to keep you safe.” Luke shook his head. 

“Yeah we know. But we gotta work on that guilt complex of yours. Seriously none of what happened was your fault.” The others nodded. Sam stayed to the back of the group and stayed quiet. 

“Sam, I’m sorry.” He nodded slightly. She looked down at her feet, it was going to take a hell of a lot for him to trust her again. She didn’t blame him. Ava spoke after another moment of silence. 

“Guys.. I kinda just realized but we don’t have anywhere to sleep tonight.” The other teens stared at each other, looking sad. Piper tried to sit up but stopped at a look from Tony. 

“Wait you guys lived on the Helicarier?” They nodded and Piper turned her big blue eyes to her father. 

“Oh, not the puppy dog eyes!” He glanced back at her looking tiny in the large white med bay bed and relented. 

“Fine. They can stay.” The others stared at him as Piper smiled looking distinctly sleepy. 

“Thanks dad. Love you.” Tony smiled and dropped a kiss to her forehead. 

“Love you too you little shit.” She giggled as she drifted off to sleep. Tony turned to the other teens. 

“I’ll see what the suits can salvage from the Helicarier but the boys can stay on Caps level and Ava can stay on Piper’s. Come on I’ll give you the tour. JARVIS will let us know if anything changes.” They nodded and followed Tony out of the room. 

 

The school year finished quickly. Eddie graduated with flying colors, he was planning on going to ESU, on a full ride scholarship that had nothing to do with his preapproved position at Stark Industries. Harry, Piper and MJ fell back into their comfortable friendship. Talk of Spidergirl was avoided at all costs though. Harry and Piper would both change the subject whenever the subject was broached. 

Sam and Piper did not continue whatever it was they had started between each other. Both privately admitted that there might still be something there but without that trust Piper had lost not telling the others about SHEILD it was unsteady at best. Stark Tower became much more crowded but none of them really minded. It was nice to have other people Piper’s age for her to hang out with. Natasha took an instant liking to Ava and the three girls frequently disappeared to the assassins’ level for ‘special training.’ Without SHEILD the world turned to the Avengers more and more often for their information and their problems. 

Piper healed fully and continued her escapades as Spidergirl leader of what the news was now calling the Ultimate’s. Coulson left his cover as Principle behind, Natasha had dumped all of SHEILD onto the internet after all. It had been extremely lucky Fury had ensured that the identities of the teen heroes was never recorded. He had gone out in search of other young heroes who needed a guiding light in their lives. Piper had the feeling they hadn’t seen the last of them. 

She laughed as a forkful of mashed potatoes flew past her ear. She flipped out of the way of a pie, letting it splatter against Clint instead. She snatched up a dish of corn and threw it at Luke who was armed with the mashed potatoes. Laughter filled the kitchen as Piper dove to the ceiling to avoid a volley of cooked carrots Ava and Danny had launched her way. At least no one could say her life was boring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus Great Power ends. But don't worry there's a new story in the works. So be on the lookout.


End file.
